Curriculum

English

English

At Brinscall St John’s, we believe that every child has a voice worth hearing and that writing gives them the power to share it.

Writing gives children a voice. It allows them to share their ideas, express their feelings, communicate their knowledge and use their imagination. From the moment children join our school, we want them to experience the excitement and pride that comes from seeing their own words come to life. We aim to nurture children who not only learn to write successfully but who see themselves as confident, creative and enthusiastic writers.

Our classrooms are places where language is celebrated, ideas are shared, stories are explored and children are encouraged to talk, imagine and create. We recognise that talk is the foundation of writing and that children need rich opportunities to develop their vocabulary, rehearse their ideas and communicate their thoughts before putting pen to paper. Through high-quality texts, purposeful discussion, modelling and carefully planned writing opportunities, we inspire children to write for a range of meaningful purposes and audiences.

We believe that confident and independent writing begins with secure foundations. We recognise the importance of explicitly teaching and regularly practising the essential skills of handwriting, spelling and sentence construction. As these skills become increasingly fluent and automatic, children are able to focus more fully on organising their ideas, making thoughtful vocabulary choices and developing their creativity. Our writing curriculum follows a carefully sequenced pathway, building knowledge and skills progressively from the Early Years through to Year 6.

We recognise that every child's writing journey is different. Our staff carefully identify what children already know and can do, celebrate their achievements and provide the teaching, practice and support they need to succeed. Through effective assessment, clear modelling, scaffolding and carefully adapted learning opportunities, we ensure that all children, including those who find writing more challenging, can experience success and develop increasing confidence and independence as writers.

As children grow, we want them to understand that writing is a process. Through opportunities to plan, compose, reread, revise and improve their work, children learn to make thoughtful choices and take pride in what they produce. We encourage children to develop their own voice, write with purpose and recognise the power their words can have.

Most importantly, we want writing to feel meaningful and rewarding. We want our children to leave Brinscall St John’s seeing themselves as writers: children who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to communicate clearly, express themselves creatively and use writing to make sense of the world around them.

Rooted in our Christian vision, we recognise the unique gifts and potential of every child. Through encouragement, high expectations and a nurturing environment, we strive to ensure that every child has the opportunity to flourish.

Through writing, our children develop the confidence, creativity and voice to SHINE with the light of Jesus.

Spelling at Brinscall

At Brinscall St John’s, we use Red Rose Spelling, a carefully planned and progressive programme, to deliver the statutory spelling requirements of the National Curriculum. We aim to develop confident, independent spellers who can apply their spelling knowledge accurately and consistently across all areas of their writing.

The Red Rose Spelling programme provides a clear and structured approach to the teaching of spelling from Year 2 to Year 6. It includes:

A carefully sequenced progression of spelling knowledge and skills across year groups.
Six-week overviews for each half term, detailing weekly spelling coverage, high-frequency words and common exception words.
Comprehensive daily planning following a consistent sequence of revisiting, reviewing, practising and applying spelling knowledge.
Carefully sequenced teaching of common exception words (red words), with opportunities to apply these in reading and writing.
Regular dictation activities that progressively combine grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs), spelling rules, patterns and common exception words.
Word banks linked directly to the spelling focus, alongside additional vocabulary to provide further challenge.
Frequent opportunities to revisit, practise and consolidate previously taught spelling knowledge to support long-term retention.
Through explicit teaching, we develop children's understanding of spelling patterns and rules, alongside their knowledge of etymology (word origins) and morphology (word structure), including prefixes, suffixes and word families. Children are also taught to recognise and apply less common grapheme-phoneme correspondences.

Statutory common exception words are taught systematically and revisited regularly to ensure children develop accuracy and automaticity when spelling frequently used words.

We recognise that children learn at different rates and may require different levels of support to become confident spellers. Teachers use ongoing assessment and observations to identify gaps in spelling knowledge and adapt teaching accordingly. Children who are not making the required progress are quickly identified, and tailored interventions are put in place to address specific gaps, provide additional practice and help them develop secure spelling knowledge and confidence.

Children's understanding is assessed through individual words and dictated sentences, allowing teachers to evaluate how effectively spelling knowledge is being applied in meaningful contexts.

We recognise that spelling is an essential component of becoming a fluent and independent writer. Explicit links are made between spelling lessons and wider English teaching, including shared and independent writing. Children are encouraged to draw upon their spelling knowledge when composing, proofreading and editing their work. Carefully selected word banks and classroom resources are available to support children in applying their spelling knowledge across the curriculum.

Our aim is for every child at Brinscall St John’s to develop the knowledge, accuracy and confidence to spell independently, enabling them to focus on expressing their ideas and allowing their creativity to SHINE through their writing.

How can parents and carers support learning at home?

At Brinscall St John’s, we believe that parents and carers play an important role in helping children become confident and enthusiastic writers. There are lots of simple, enjoyable ways to support your child's spelling and writing development at home. The most important thing is to encourage their efforts, celebrate their successes and help them see writing as something meaningful and enjoyable.

Talk, talk, talk!

Talking is an important foundation for writing. Encourage your child to share their ideas, explain their thinking, tell stories and describe their experiences. Introduce new vocabulary through everyday conversations and encourage them to use interesting words when speaking.

Make writing meaningful and fun

Give your child opportunities to write for real purposes, such as shopping lists, birthday cards, invitations, postcards, letters, recipes or stories. Let them see you writing too, so they understand that writing is an important part of everyday life.

Practise spelling little and often

Short, regular spelling activities are often more effective than lengthy practice sessions. Encourage your child to look carefully at spelling patterns, say words aloud, break them into sounds or syllables and notice similarities between words. Revisit previously learned spellings to help strengthen their memory.

Explore words together

Help your child become curious about words. Look for spelling patterns, investigate word families and explore how prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of words. For example, help, helpful, helpless or happy, unhappy, happiness.

Encourage children to write sentences

Support your child in using their spelling knowledge within sentences rather than practising words in isolation. You could say a short sentence aloud for your child to write, encouraging them to think about spelling, capital letters and punctuation. Keep sentences manageable and celebrate what they have remembered.

Encourage independence

When your child is unsure how to spell a word, encourage them to use the strategies they have learned at school. Rather than immediately providing the correct spelling, help them think about the sounds, spelling patterns or word parts they already know. Offer support when needed so that writing remains a positive experience.

Celebrate their writing

Show an interest in what your child has written and praise their ideas, effort and progress. Encourage them to read their writing aloud and talk about what they are most proud of. Remember that developing confidence and a love of writing is just as important as getting every word right.

Little and often makes a big difference!

Above all, we want children to enjoy using words, sharing their ideas and growing in confidence. By working together, we can help every child develop the skills and enthusiasm to let their writing SHINE.