English

At William Stockton, our priority is to develop children’s confidence, enjoyment and ability in reading, writing and communication. To excel in English, our children will need a secure knowledge of reading and writing. Fundamentally, we believe that spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing; consequently, we take every opportunity to improve our children's spoken grammar and syntax. We will provide all our children with depth, breadth and ambition in their learning – ensuring that our curriculum is well sequenced and builds on knowledge and skills gained as children progress through the school. Reading is our passion at William Stockton, and because of this, we promote a love of reading, drama and writing whereby children want to read, write and perform spontaneously with enjoyment. We strive for our children to develop a passion for English to aid their life skills and enable them to become lifelong learners. Reading, writing and spoken language are at the heart of our school’s curriculum. 

We believe that fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects and therefore we develop pupils’ spoken language, listening skills, reading, writing and vocabulary as these are integral aspects of the teaching of every subject. Interwoven through all areas of the curriculum is a drive to support children as they develop confidence and fluency in using a varied vocabulary in a wide range of contexts; including ‘multi-contextual’ and subject specific vocabulary.

We have been joint English subject leads at William Stockton for seven years and have a wealth of experience. Having taught Y2 and Y6 for many years, we have a strong knowledge of the whole school curriculum which is constantly updated through regular CPD. We both have a desire to improve our children’s love of reading, spoken language skills and writing. For the last two years, Mrs Hillstead has been working with the local English Hub supporting schools with phonics and early reading. Miss Forshaw has a degree in Primary Education with English and has a real enthusiasm for preparing our learners for the future. We are regularly involved in moderation with local schools in our cluster.  Mrs Hazeldine, who leads English in our Federated School and is a moderator for Key Stage 1 works closely alongside us to ensure that our curriculum is the best it can be. Constantly developing our subject knowledge is vital in order to develop the knowledge of our children and this is something we believe in whole-heartedly. 

We have recently purchased Pathways to Write and Pathways to Spell to ensure progression in writing from Nursery to Y6. We feel this will support both our staff and our children as they will have clear end points and know where children have come from and where they need to go. A broad spectrum of the English curriculum is delivered in order to accomodate and challenge pupils of all abilities; we adapt our teaching to suit the children's needs. 

Files to Download