At Shinfield St Mary’s we believe that a quality English curriculum will develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion.  Our curriculum has been organised to provide many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion and we encourage distinct links across our curriculum to enhance our children’s skill development and practice. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children love to read, take pride in their writing and can adapt their language and style for a range of contexts.  We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and use discussion to further their learning. The National Curriculum (2014) forms the basis for all subject teaching ensuring continuity and progression in an age-related curriculum and as such our intent is to enable children to:

∙ read easily, fluently and with good understanding;

∙ develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information;

∙ acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language;

 ∙ appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage;

 ∙ write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences

 ∙ use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas;

 ∙ are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

We believe that developing a secure knowledge base in Literacy and confidence to articulate and express ourselves, will give our children the tools they need to participate fully and make an impact on the wider world.