The National Curriculum
English Framework
(NCEF):
Curriculum change review
document
Bea Noble-Rogers
Jim Rose
September 2014
About this document
In the National Curriculum English Framework (NCEF), English is presented as a subject in
its own right and the medium for teaching in all other subjects. This document identifies the
NEW subject knowledge of the NCEF. The term ‘teacher’ is used for both trainee teachers,
teachers and teacher educators. It highlights the main changes and suggests what teachers
may need to do to address them, together with available resources and possible ways
forward. It offers a means of reviewing current curricula in light of the programmes of study,
the related appendices and the glossary.
Other notes

The NCEF deals with year by year content with the onus on teachers and schools to
ensure curricula breadth, depth and high quality pedagogy, designed to support
progression in their pupils’ learning.

Teachers will need to plan for effective progression building on the EYFS curriculum
and taking full account of pupils’ prior learning and developing abilities. Thus teachers
will have to address transition to the new curriculum from the standpoint of each year
group.

Much of what is contained in the 2014 curriculum should be familiar to teachers, such
as: promoting reading and writing for pleasure; introduction to a wide range of
children’s literature; word reading and comprehension processes; spelling and the
application of English skills within literacy and across the whole curriculum. These
areas have been substantially covered through curriculum developments in recent
years and are not revisited below unless there is additional emphasis in the new
NCEF.

Schools and ITE providers may want to consider individual learning plans for
teachers. For this purpose, the appendices and glossaries, from page 50 of the
framework document, can be used to support audits of teachers’ CPD needs.

Grammar:
- Two aspects of the curriculum likely to pose a considerable challenge for teachers
are grammar and punctuation because these have been extended and taken to
greater depth.
- Teachers need to ensure that these aspects are both taught directly and
contextualised so that pupils are able to apply correct spelling and grammatical
knowledge and become increasingly effective writers across the curriculum.
- Consistent reference to the NCEF document will help teachers and their pupils to
know and apply grammatical and spelling rules.
- Schools may find it useful to have a policy on the use of the terminology of each
programme of study – for example, for word reading and grammar.

To secure the greatest advantage for pupils from working with the NCEF time will be
needed for teachers to become familiar with its construction, with the statutory
programmes of study and attainment and related non-statutory guidance, and the
appendices and glossary.
This document can be used as an audit tool. We suggest that you view the following
pages as a double page spread.
English NC
headings:
2
Subject knowledge
Teachers need to…
– additions and
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
Resources, opportunities
and solutions
Spoken
language
changes to the
curriculum
Spoken
language
 Subject knowledge 
demands relating
to spoken
language are an
extension of what
is current and
established
practice in schools. 
Speaking and
listening is
presented as a
single set of

outcomes.
 Overarching
statutory
requirements
(NCEF p.18).
 There is a new
emphasis on
drama where , as
well as rehearse,
pupils should
refine, share and
respond
thoughtfully to
drama and theatre
performances.
Focus for development
3

use the statutory
requirements to establish a
clear progression from
years one to six, taking full
account of pupils’ different
but developing abilities

See the English expert
group audit tool

Review and make
appropriate use of National
Strategies progression for
speaking and listening
outcomes (DfES 2006),
Talk for Writing (DfES,
2009) and Talking Partners

Work with professional
storytellers to enhance
speaking and listening for
different audiences

Use direct teaching to
model different speaking
and listening conventions
for pupils and provide
opportunities for
application

Ensure that knowledge of
the grammar of Standard
English is built into
sessions on accent, dialect
and Standard English.
identify the outcomes for
teaching spoken language
across the key stages
ensure that pupils acquire
a strong command and
comprehension of spoken
language as a means of
communication in its own
right and also as a means
of establishing a strong
command of the written
word
enable pupils to participate
in and gain knowledge,
skills and understanding
associated with drama,
(NCEF, p.15)

ensure the importance of
spoken language is
recognised and embedded
in the teaching of reading
and writing

provide rich and regular
opportunities for talk to
develop

teach the conventions and
requirements for different
speaking and listening
contexts – for example:
questioning, justifying and
hypothesising.
Possible actions
Resource implications
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
English NC
headings:
Reading
4
Subject knowledge
– additions and
Teachers need to…
changes to the
curriculum
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
Resources, opportunities
and solutions
Reading
Subject knowledge of:
 the relationship
between word
reading and
language
comprehension as
set out in, for
example, the
Simple View of
Reading (DfES,
2006)
 how to identify the
demands of a
wide range of
texts appropriate
to progressing
pupils’ reading
from Year 1 to
Year 6 and across
curriculum.
 recognise which processes
– word reading or language
comprehension – they are
teaching at a given time
and not confuse the two
 make sure pupils engage in
reading, for pleasure and
information, with a wide
range of increasingly
complex fiction and nonfiction texts.
 The Independent Review of
the Teaching of Early
Reading (The Rose
Review) (DfES, 2006)
 Moving English Forward
(Ofsted, 2012)
 The English expert group
audit tool
 Teachers as Readers,
Cremin et al (2009)
 ‘Teachers as Readers:
building communities of
readers’ in Literacy, 43,
no.1, 11-19.
Word reading
Subject knowledge
required for teaching
the word reading
sections includes
systematic phonic
work. This aspect of
reading has received
substantial attention in
schools and through
ITT over recent years.
 establish a framework for
the regular teaching of
word recognition processes
and phonic knowledge
drawing on the range of
high quality resources
available, including those
recognised through the
revised criteria for high
quality phonics work (DfE)
 understand how to teach
phonics systematically and
provide pupils with the
opportunity to apply this
knowledge in their reading
and writing across the
curriculum
 understand the place of
decodable texts in a
systematic approach
 map their existing
systematic phonics scheme
on to the word reading
requirements of the NCEF.

Focus for development
5
Possible actions

Revised Core Criteria for
High Quality Phonics
Schemes (DfE, 2010)
Systematic synthetic
phonics in ITT: guidance
and support materials (DfE
2012)
Resource implications
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
English NC
headings:
Reading
6
Subject knowledge
– additions and
Teachers need to…
changes to the
curriculum
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
Resources, opportunities
and solutions
Comprehensio
n
7
Subject knowledge of
 how to develop
pupils’
understanding of
the printed and
spoken word – for
example, through
engaging
discussion and
enactment of a
range of high
quality stories,
poems and nonfiction (NCEF,
p.15)
 a wide range of
poems and
rhymes both
contemporary and
classic
 a repertoire of
poems that will
lend themselves
to ‘learning by
heart’ and reciting.





ensure their knowledge of
literature and poetry
enables them to use high
quality texts that engage
pupils’ interest and develop
a love of reading
understand that pupils also
need to be taught to
engage with multi-modal/
digital texts
foster discussion about
books and ensure pupils
receive clear feedback to
inform their comprehension
of the text
understand the relationship
between learning poetry
and recitation for
audiences
understand the role of
active teaching strategies –
for example, role play,
DARTs (directed activities
related to texts) and hot
seating – in supporting
pupils in learning poetry by
heart.
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014




See the English expert
group audit tool
United Kingdom Literacy
Association (UKLA) web
site
‘Teachers as Readers:
building communities of
readers’ in Literacy, 43,
no.1
Schools can work with
libraries, children’s
booksellers and the
internet – for example,
Reading Zone – to keep up
to date with current
publications in order to
develop specialist book
lists – for example, poems
to perform and texts to
support teaching in
different curricular areas.
Focus for development
8
Possible actions
Resource implications
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
English NC
headings:
Writing
Subject knowledge –
additions and changes Teachers need to…
to the curriculum
Resources,
opportunities and
solutions
Transcription:
spelling



Transcription:
handwriting
9
Subject knowledge
required to teach
spelling is set out
through the
programmes of study
and the supporting
Appendix 1 (NCEF,
p.50).
Spelling is presented
as incremental,
moving from a simple
to a more complex
formulation of familiar
and unfamiliar words.

There is an increased
level of specificity
about spelling rules –
for example, adding
suffixes.

Dictation is required in
the Programme of
Study from Year 1 to
Year 4.

Dictation methods (as
above).

Diagonal and
horizontal strokes
needed to join letters,
and letters best left
unjoined.

Understand which
letters belong to which
handwriting ‘families’.

Increased emphasis
on legibility and the
quality of pupils’
handwriting.

use the detail set out in the
appendix to develop their
knowledge of spelling rules
and patterns

support pupils in achieving
increasing accuracy in their
spelling whilst recognising
that they may not be able
to spell accurately all the
words they want to write
teach the spelling rules,
exception words and, in
Year 3 to Year 6, statutory
word lists
know why and how to use
dictation to teach spelling
and to encourage fluency
in writing.





know why and how to use
dictation to teach
handwriting and fluency in
writing
be familiar with letter
formation, letter families
and how letters are joined
review the handwriting
policy to ensure
compliance with the
statutory requirements.
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
Use the NCEF
Appendix 1 to support
subject knowledge
development in
relation to spelling and
also as a planning tool.
Focus for development
10
Possible actions
Resource implications
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
English NC
headings:
Writing
Subject knowledge –
additions and changes Teachers need to…
to the curriculum
Composition

Vocabulary,
grammar and
punctuation
11
Use a wide range of
devices to build
cohesion within and
across paragraphs
(Years 5 and 6).

Ensure correct subject
and verb agreement
when using singular
and plural (Years 5
and 6).

Use the perfect form of
verbs to mark the
relationships of time
and cause.

Choose the
appropriate register.
There is a considerable
amount of ‘new’
grammatical knowledge
which many teachers may
need to learn, including:
 subordination and
coordination
 the continuous/
progressive verb form
 use of conjunctions,
adverbs and
prepositions to
express time and
cause
 fronted adverbials
 the subjunctive
 active and passive
voice
 modal verbs or
adverbs
 relative clauses
 cohesive devices:
semantic cohesion,
grammatical
connection, elision
 adverbials of time,
place and number
Resources,
opportunities and
solutions
 be familiar with the subject
knowledge identified in the
previous box and able to
use this knowledge to
support pupils’ writing,
auditing of existing
knowledge and CPD as
appropriate.




review their grammatical
knowledge against the
NCEF
ascertain the extent to
which it is the grammar
that is unfamiliar or the
terminology used in the
NCEF (for example,
‘simple sentences’ are now
referred to as ‘single
clause sentences’)
see the subject knowledge
for grammar and
punctuation in terms of its
use in developing pupils’
writing
understand that grammar
and punctuation need to be
taught through direct
teaching and through
application in writing to
make it more effective,
exciting and purposeful.
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014
 NCEF Appendix 2
(p.76) and the
Glossary (p.84)
 See the English
expert group audit
tool

NCEF Appendix 2
(p.75) and the
Glossary (p.84)

School alliances and
ITE partnerships will
benefit from guidance
from national experts
and centres for
excellence, to support
further developing
CPD/ITE in this area
and to work together to
avoid unnecessary
duplication of activity
across partnerships.
Focus for development
12
Possible actions
Resource implications
NCEF Subject Knowledge Bea Noble-Rogers / Jim Rose | September 2014