English Curriculum Statement
In line with the National Curriculum, English lessons at Valence aim to promote the highest possible standards of language
and literacy amongst our students. We strive to equip students with the highest possible level of communication skills and
writing skills; and to give them a love for literature through active reading of enjoyable and engaging texts.
The school’s chosen synthetic phonics programme is ‘Phonics Bug’ which is mapped on ‘Letters and Sounds’.
Key Stages 1 and 2
CLASS
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Stories by familiar
authors
e.g. Julia Donaldson, Jan
Pienkowski – Meg and
Mog
Traditional Tales
e.g Christmas Story
linked to RE and Science
Poetry
e.g rhyming words and
simple poetry e.g. Pam
Eyres, Janet and Allan
Ahlberg
Fairytales
e.g ‘The Gingerbread
Man’, Jack and the
Beanstalk’ linked to
science and food tech.
Non-fiction
Dictionaries and
alphabetical order.
Poetry
e.g Summer and
Seasons through
performance poetry.
COMET
Popular Culture
e.g. Skylanders, Comic
books, Superheroes
Plays
e.g. Visiting
performer/panto visit
Traditional tales
e.g Alternative fairy
tales
Fiction
e.g Milo, Armadillo and
Meer Cat Mail
Poetry/Myths and
Legends
e.g Pirates and the Sea
GALAXY
Alternative Fairy Tales
e.g Little Red Riding
Hood, Beware of Boys,
The Pea and the
Princess
Traditional Tales/Poetry
e.g. The Night before
Christmas by C.C Moore,
Victorian Nursery
Rhymes linked to
History
Fantasy stories
e.g. The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe by
C.S Lewis
Plays
e.g linked to visitng
theatre performance –
Polka Dot theatre visit
Non fiction
e.g. Writing instructions
for making bread and
soup linked to DT
Non-ficiton
e.g. Postcards linked to
geography and
communication
‘Summer holidays’
Poetry
e.g. Weather linked to
geography and the
seasons
Key Stage 1
STAR
Key Stage 2
METEOR
Fiction from our
Literary heritage
e.g. ‘Alice in
Wonderland’
Experiment with
different narrative form
and styles to write their
own stories.
Fiction from our
Literary heritage
e.g.‘A Christmas Carol’
by Charles Dickens.
Experiment with
different narrative form
and styles to write their
own stories.
Myths and Legends
e.g. Greek and Creation
mythology, Flo
Longhorne
Non- fiction
e.g. Instructional texts
linked food technology
Plays
e.g. Shakespeare –
‘Romeo and Juliet’
Performance Poetry
e.g. Michael Rosen,
Benjamin Zephania
Additionally, all students will have weekly reading lessons and students requiring extra support to develop their
communication skills, will have additional support within English/literacy lessons. Students will be read texts beyond their
reading level on a daily basis.
Key Stage 3
CLASS
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Team communication
project: Students work
in teams to discuss and
decide on how to
promote a product
including packaging,
naming, advertising and
then pitching this to a
panel of independent
judges.
Travel reading and
writing: reading a
variety of travel texts
and writing travel
brochure and
travelogue.
Reading and engaging
with World Literature:
‘The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer’ by Mark Twain.
Class D
Diaries and interesting
characters: Reading
about characters e.g.
Roald Dahl’s characters
and creating our own.
Reading and engaging
with classic drama:
‘Macbeth’ by William
Shakespeare.
Examining Non-fiction
texts: Using a range of
non-fiction texts based
on The Titanic to find
out about the boat and
what happened to it.
Producing texts in range
of formats based on The
Titanic.
Nature poetry: Using
inspiration from classic
poetry including William
Wordsworth’s ‘Daffodils’
to write poems based on
what we can see in
nature.
Class U
Reading and engaging
with a contemporary
text: ‘To Catch a Beast’
by Jonny Zucker.
Finding a Voice: Reading
and Writing refugee
poetry.
English language study
– influences on spoken
and written language.
Media Project: writing,
making and editing a
short film with a
Christmas theme.
Writing extended
fantasy fiction: Escape
to Kraznir guided writing
project.
Reading and engaging
with contemporary
drama: ‘Skellig’ –
playscript by David
Almond.
Reading and engaging
with a classic English
text: ‘Frankenstein’ by
Mary Shelley.
Additionally, all students will have weekly ‘skills’ lessons where they will be working on individual literacy
and communication tasks to help them achieve targets set by the English teacher and also other
departments such as CHATA. Students who are readers will have a daily 25 minute reading session every
day and this will happen in different lessons. These students will be using ‘Accelerated Reader’ in order to
monitor their reading and comprehension.
Key Stage 4 and 5
Students work on an accredited course matched to their level. The courses offered are:
Board
WJEC
WJEC
WJEC
WJEC
WJEC
Qualification
Personal Progress Entry Pathway
Additional English Entry Pathway
English Functional Skills
GCSE English
GCSE Media Studies
Level
Entry 1
Entry 2 and Entry 3
Entry 1, 2 and 3 and Level 1
A*-G
A*-G
Additionally, all students will have weekly ‘skills’ lessons where they will be working on individual literacy
and communication tasks to help them achieve targets set by the English teacher and also other
departments such as CHATA. Students who are readers will have a daily 25 minute reading session every
day and this will happen in different lessons. These students will be using ‘Accelerated Reader’ in order to
monitor their reading and comprehension.