At Lawn, we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion whilst supporting children’s exploration and understanding of the world around them. Our aim for our children is that by the time they leave Lawn they will be avid readers, children who read fluently and widely and who are able to express preferences and opinions through rich and meaningful discussions about the texts that they read. As children move through our school, class discussions in English lessons will help children to develop empathy, communication skills and the ability to argue effectively, considering insights into issues common to the personal and global spheres, such as prejudice and conflict. We will provide opportunities to use exploration of global issues as real-life contexts for developing core skills (for example, persuasive writing and spoken language). We want them to read for pleasure, having had access to a wide range of text types, genres and authors in order for them to make informed opinions about the world we live in. We want Lawn children to write with confidence and accuracy for a variety of purposes and audiences whilst developing their own individual flair. Through text, children will explore values, beliefs and experiences of different groups of people from a range of cultures and traditions. We want our children to be able to write with grammatical accuracy and be able to apply spelling patterns correctly using our neat handwriting style. We aim to expose our children to a wide range of vocabulary so that they able to decipher new words and then use them when speaking both informally and formally. We also aim for our children to apply all of these English skills to all areas of the curriculum.

Our curriculum intent for English encompasses our six core values. We want Lawn children to be confident readers and writers, with the initiative to explore and use a varied vocabulary. Lawn children will become the global citizens of the future and will learn to use the power of language with responsibility and respect. The knowledge they receive through books will enable Lawn children to empathise with others in different situations around the world. They will view teamwork as a critical skill, as something that can happen at many levels; beginning with the classroom setting and later within their daily, future, working lives. They will always demonstrate integrity, respect and empathy towards others beliefs, cultures and traditions.

At Lawn, our intent is to engage our children to become confident and accurate readers and writers by incorporating the knowledge, skills and understanding from the National Curriculum (2014) and as outlined in our Progression Maps for reading and writing. At the heart of English, Lawn teachers know that text choice is paramount. High quality texts produce high quality outcomes, and as an Outstanding school this is where our expectation lies.