Inspiring our writers: English at Marlborough St Mary's!

At Marlborough St Mary’s, our engaging, active curriculum is inclusive, experiential and rooted in our Christian values. We enrich children’s learning through practical, cross-curricular experiences that spark curiosity and resilience, enabling every child to thrive. We place a strong emphasis on the fundamental skills of reading and talk, ensuring our pupils develop a love of reading that opens doors to knowledge and imagination and the ability to communicate with clarity, confidence and respect.  We want our pupils to feel a strong sense of connection: to each other, their families, our school and the wider community. Through partnerships with local schools, businesses and community groups, children learn to see their place in the wider world and understand how they can contribute positively to it.  We also believe that joy should be at the heart of childhood. Our curriculum is deliberately designed to create moments of happiness, wonder and delight - experiences that make pupils smile, laugh and love learning.

Our curriculum is challenging, sequential and aspirational for all. It builds knowledge and skills over time while linking learning to real-life experiences. In doing so, we support children to grow independence, creativity and self-belief, preparing them to take their place as responsible and compassionate citizens of the Marlborough community and as citizens of the wider world.

 

Life-long readers: Our Curriculum's Intent:

At Marlborough St Mary’s, we believe that the teaching of English is fundamental to all of our children succeeding, enabling them to access the next stage of their education and beyond. Our curriculum has been designed to ensure that children enjoy reading and writing and have a passion and enthusiasm for English.

Staff at Marlborough St Mary’s are aware of the differing groups of learners and vulnerable children in their classes which enables them to plan and teach personalised English lessons which focus on the particular needs of each child. We recognise that each child has their own starting point upon entry to every year group and progress is measured in line with these starting points to ensure every child can celebrate success. Across our curriculum, each year group aims to explore books, poems and events written by or about people from a range of cultures and races.

Through using high –quality texts, immersing children in vocabulary rich environments and ensuring curriculum expectations and the progression of skills are met, the children at Marlborough St Mary’s are exposed to a creative, aspirational and engaging English curriculum.

The Adventure of Learning: How We Teach English:

Continuous and blended provision: In reception, children enjoy role playing traditional tales with props, puppets and dressing up. English skills can be seen in all continuous provision activities around the classrooms and adults are highly skilled at encouraging talk through play. In Year 1 blended provision is carefully planned to allow children to develop their early writing skills. Drama and imaginative stimuli are used to give exciting opportunities for engaging with texts and provide purposes for creative writing. These activities build both joy in learning and a sense of connection with peers through shared storytelling and collaboration.

 

Reading at Marlborough St Mary’s is at the core of our curriculum and an integral part of all our lessons. We teach reading through -

• Phonics: Phonic awareness helps the development of reading by segmenting and blending sounds. In Reception and for any child requiring phonics teaching, we use the phonics programme Read, Write Inc. In phonics lessons, reading is taught through a shared approach using books that are rhythmical and have repetitive patterns. Pupils are streamed into ability groups which match their reading levels and each term they are reassessed to determine any group changes. Children take home a copy of their group RWI book so that their learning continues at home.
• KS1: Reading continues to be taught through the RWI programme to ensure that all children are learning to read and comprehend texts that match their phonic ability. Once children have moved through the RWI grey books, they then move on through the colour banded book spine which ascends through the school.
• Year 1 – Year 6 Book Talk: Across KS1 and KS2, pupils participate in daily Book Talk lessons, where they read high-quality books each term, amounting to 36 books over the course of their primary education at Marlborough St Marys. In Year 1, teachers introduce several picture books throughout the term under the visualiser however from Year 2 onwards, classes have multiple copies of the same novel for pupils to follow along with. These lessons are designed to foster a love of reading, expand children's vocabulary, and deepen their understanding of the author's intent. Teachers skilfully guide class discussions and questioning to elicit and extend pupils’ comprehension and learning. The focus of these questions is on vocabulary, prediction, inference, and summary. To support this, teachers use a highlighting system in their planning to ensure a range of question types are covered.
• Book Talk immersion lessons: At the beginning of every new book Children are immersed in the context; prior knowledge is not assumed. Immersion lessons set the place and time of the story, looking at countries and cultures as well as teaching key vocabulary. Children will look at pictures and props. These props are then displayed in each classroom’s book corner which also has recommended reads that are chosen and changed each term by the class teacher.
• Reading comprehension:  Once a week in KS2, children complete a reading comprehension. The text type will rotate between fiction, non-fiction and poetry and children will be exposed to a range of different question types that target the national curriculum reading strands.
• Reading for pleasure: At Marlborough St Mary’s, we actively encourage children to pick up a book to read for their own pleasure. Classrooms are well stocked with a wide variety of books and children visit the school library at various points in the day. Teachers often demonstrate their own love of reading by having a personal book at hand.
• Reading homework: We use an online platform called ‘Learning for Parents’. Families can record their child’s home reading by leaving notes, audio entries or photos. Teachers can use this to keep track of children’s reading at home and award online stickers or house points.
• Reading interventions: Sometimes it is necessary for children to receive 1:1 or small group phonics or comprehension lessons. These sessions always happen outside of core lesson times and are carefully planned to help children work on gaps in their phonics knowledge or reading comprehension skills. Sometimes a child in lower key stage 2 may still be working through the RWI reading spine and it may be appropriate for them to join the key stage 1 phonic lessons.
• Reading Assessment: As well as using daily assessment for learning, we also make use of PIRA reading tests. These happen at the ends of term 2, 4 and 6 and are an invaluable tool for teachers to enable them to plan the next steps in learning for each pupil. Year 6 opt for the use of past SATS papers to ensure children are exposed to previous question types and know what to expect when they come to taking their SATS in Term 5.
• Supporting disadvantaged learners: To support disadvantaged learners, a variety of strategies are employed. One such approach is using "think-pair-share" with carefully chosen learning partners to encourage collaboration and idea sharing. Teachers also actively join partner discussions to provide guidance. Teaching assistants are used to help pupils follow along in the correct section of the book, and in some cases, pre-reading sessions are held before the lesson to boost comprehension. Additionally, props and pictures from classroom displays are often referenced to enhance understanding and provide visual context. To promote reading at home, families are offered support in accessing and using the app by class teachers. The school also has pre-paid SIM cards available for parents who may not have access to the internet/ data regularly on their phones.

 

Writing

• Writing Sequence: Our English lessons are linked directly to the text studied in book talk. These lessons are delivered through 2 units of writing per term each containing two weeks of text related, skills-based lessons leading through to an end of unit long write where children can show their application of the skills taught. Teachers use the visualiser to model writing and examples of skills covered within a unit are recorded on the working walls within the classroom.
• Grammar and Punctuation: Children are taught the grammar and punctuation objectives specific to their year group, and these skills are reinforced across 12 writing units throughout the year. In each writing unit, pupils focus on learning 3 to 4 grammar skills. For each skill, there are two lessons: one dedicated to teaching the rules, and the other to applying them. Lesson starters and working walls are used to revisit and reinforce the grammar objectives covered and promote the children accessing support independently through the examples on working walls. Children and teachers work collaboratively on this wall and children’s ideas and work based on grammar skills is often displayed and celebrated here.
• Long Write Children participate in two extended writing sessions each term, providing an opportunity to apply the grammar skills they’ve learned. Before these sessions, the teacher dedicates a lesson to introducing the text type, for example a diary, a letter, a story or a report, followed by another lesson for planning the content. After completing their independent writing, students spend additional time editing and improving their work to enhance their final piece.

 

A Typical Writing Unit

 

Immersion x1 lesson

Skill 1 x2 lessons

Skill 2  x 2 lessons

Skill 3  x 2 lessons

Skill 4  x 2 lessons

Exploring text type x 1 lesson

Planning x 1 lesson

Long write x 2-3 lessons

Editing

 

• Spelling: At Marlborough St Mary’s, a rigorous and consistent approach to spelling is implemented using the Scode Spelling programme, starting in Year 2 after the completion of the RWI phonics programme. The lessons incorporate a variety of strategies and resources, including "dot, dash, count," etymology of words and root word activities. Dictionary skills are also taught as part of these lessons. For students still developing their ability to spell high-frequency words, word mats are provided, and every classroom displays the RWI complex speed sound chart to support learning.
• Handwriting: As part of the Read, Write Inc. phonics programme, correct letter formation is taught from reception. From year 1 onwards, year groups then use the Nelson handwriting programme. In key stage 2 this is taught explicitly in a handwriting lesson once a week.
• Assessment: Writing attainment is consistently measured throughout the year. During the three assessment periods in terms 2, 4, and 6, progress is tracked using the Wiltshire Teacher Assessment Frameworks. In addition, writing is also formatively assessed at the end of each writing unit, allowing us to adjust teaching plans based on pupil needs and progress.
• Writing moderation: We moderate our writing assessments thorough the year both internally and as part of a Wiltshire school cluster.
• SEND: We employ various strategies to support children with special educational needs. These include the use of assistive technologies such as the Clicker writing program and voice recordings, as well as tools like colourful semantics, topic charts, and high-frequency word charts. Widget word mats are also used to scaffold and promote the use of advanced vocabulary with aid to help children be adventurous with their writing. Additionally, teaching assistants are highly skilled in providing targeted support for children's writing.
• School Trips and Author visits in reception and KS1: We have an excellent relationship with the staff at the town library, and we make every effort to ensure children have a library card by organising memberships prior to a class visit. Year 1 and 2 also take an annual visit to the library where they receive an excellent interactive experience with the librarian. We then encourage families to make continued visits by joining in with summer reading challenges and advertising and promoting other reading events run by the library. These experiences create connection with our local community and foster joy through positive, real-world experiences of books.
• School Trips and Author visits in KS2:  In lower Key stage 2, children strengthen their connection with the community when they take part in the Marlborough Literature festival in Year 4. They take great pride in opening the weekend festivities by singing on the town hall steps, a shared experience which enhances belonging and pride in our students. As a whole school we contribute to the festival's writing competition in the autumn term and it’s always exciting for the children to see the winning entries displayed in St Mary’s church.
  In Year 5, children go on a magical trip to Marlborough college where they enjoy a Harry Potter experience Day, meeting Hagrid and taking part in a Hogwarts quiz in the college library. This hands-on experience brings the text to life in fun and creative ways and results in some marvellous writing back in class. During the Marlborough literature festival Year 5 and 6 attend children’s author talks in the town hall. This is always an exciting event where the children are treated to an author reading and then given the chance to ask questions about story writing. Where possible we try to enrich our reading with visits to theatres, further strengthening children’s connection with the wider world of literature.
• Supporting disadvantaged learners: To support disadvantaged learners, we tailor our lessons to ensure that all children can be creative writers. Grammar skills are revisited frequently in each term to build on memory, recall and understanding for all children. For children that need support with sustained periods of writing, we offer Clicker 8 to ensure that cognitive load is lessened. This helps to promote clearer writing outcomes, focussing on the children’s implementation of the skills within their writing. Teaching assistants are used to help pupils structure and plan their ideas and are available to provide children with language and skill-based resources to further their ability to manipulate English. Any staff that enter a new classroom will be able to identify our disadvantaged learners with the colour coded stickers placed on the back page of the children’s books, allowing for instant support for specific pupils.

 

Impact

The impact on our children is clear: progress, passion and transferable skills. Our aim is that by the end of Key stage 2, all our children will have made considerable progress from their starting points in EYFS. By the time they are in upper key stage 2, all writing genres are familiar to them and teaching can focus on creativity, writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills. Throughout their school journey, our children also become more confident, fluent readers and they realise the importance of reading for pleasure along with reading for information and knowledge. Just as importantly, they experience a deep sense of connection to their school, peers, community and to the stories they read and write. They also develop joy in English, understanding that learning can be playful, positive and good for their wellbeing. We hope that as children move on from us to further education and learning, that their creativity, passion for English, joy for learning and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.