English

Our English Intent

At Collingwood Primary we aim to instil in our pupils a lifelong love of English through a text-based approach, exploiting links across our curriculum to develop and broaden their understanding of the world in which they live. We immerse our children in the texts, equipping them with the skills needed to be a great writer who produces creative, engaging writing across a range of genres. By promoting the importance of vocabulary, we will provide our pupils with the key to unlock the world around them, through a 'mirrors and windows' approach. Our carefully sequenced and purposeful curriculum will enable children to access lands: known and fantastical, modern and historical and home and abroad. We strongly promote reading for both knowledge and for pleasure, through the exploration of high-quality texts which enable our pupils to develop their creativity, raise their aspirations and create brave, resilient writers who are not afraid to independently ‘have a go’.

English Curriculum Overviews

Please look at our English overviews which give you a breakdown of what we teach in each year group.

Reading Intent

Reading intent

At Collingwood Primary School, our Reading provision aims to develop a love of reading acquired through varied and enriching exposure to wide-ranging texts, enabling pupils to broaden their knowledge of the world around them.

Writing Intent

Writing intent

At Collingwood Primary School, our Writing provision aims to foster a passion for writing which recognises its value in communicating with, and entertaining and engaging others. We strive to broaden our pupils’ vocabulary, providing them with the skills and techniques required to become fluent and confident writers.

Handwriting Intent

Handwriting intent

At Collingwood Primary School, our ultimate goal is for every child to develop a fluid, effortless, and joined Handwriting style that serves as a vehicle for their creativity and academic success.

Oracy @ Collingwood

At Collingwood Primary School, we empower every child to find their voice. Spoken language builds confidence, strengthens learning, and helps children express themselves clearly. We weave strong communication skills into everything we do—from classroom lessons and playtimes to school-wide activities.

Our Oracy Goals

We utilise the Oracy Frame work and Discussion Guidelines from the Voice 21 programme to help our pupils to:

Speak clearly and confidently for different audiences and purposes using a rich vocabulary.
Listen actively and respect the ideas and opinions of others.
Express their thoughts and build logical arguments with clarity and confidence.
Share learning creatively through presentations, drama, poetry, and debate.

Please refer to our Oracy Progression Map to see how we structure effective talk at Collingwood: Oracy Progression Map

Spellings

At Collingwood Primary School, we follow the National Curriculum for spellings. A full breakdown and progression of spellings and vocabulary, grammar and punctuation can be found via the links to the English Appendix 1: Spelling and English Appendix 2 in our Writing Intent document above.

Children are taught spelling initially through the Read Write Inc. programme practising age appropriate spellings alongside their phonics in Key Stage 1 before progressing, in KS2, onto the National Curriculum programme of study supported by the Spelling Shed educational programme and resources.

Through Spelling Shed, children are taught to understand the relationship between sounds and written symbols, morphology (the structure of words) and etymology (the origin and history of words) to help spell through meaning. The children are taught spelling rules during their Read Write Achieve lessons and are able to access a number of online games and resources to support their spelling practice at home.

In each year group, children are taught a number of Red Words/Common Exception Words which do not always follow phonological/spelling rules. The words your children will be learning will reflect the current stage in their learning. Please see the links below to access the Common Exception Words taught throughout the school to help you to practise them with your child at home.

What do our children say about English at Collingwood?

"I really like our topics. I enjoyed learning about Holes and the Titanic! The teaching I get helps me feel able to do my hot writes because we have practised what we need to know." Rosie Y6

"I love reading and learning new letters!' Poppy Reception

"Boxing up helps me to do my hot write as I have all my ideas planned out. Pink highlighting shows me where I need to fix my work. " Gracie Y4

"We use a WAGOLL to help us and then do a box up. I don't think I could do my hot write without boxing up! I use the Working Wall to help me get ideas for new words for my writing." Archie Y3

Promoting careers in English

It is vital that children understand how the skills they are taught at Collingwood will assist them in being successful in their later life and careers. At Collingwood, we aim to produce confident and skilled writers who have developed the building blocks needed to help them to become: budding authors, journalists, librarians, copy editors, web content managers and many other careers! Good literacy skills are crucial across all careers, and we aim to ensure Collingwood children will be successful in whichever path they choose. We take the opportunity to share the work and writing process in creating stories, by participating in live lessons, and question and answer sessions with real-life authors.

The English National Curriculum

To view the entire English National Curriculum document with the relevant appendices, please click here.