Northside’s children come from wide-ranging cultural, national and educational starting points. The school has a very diverse mixture of socio-economic lifestyles which reflect the children’s learning needs. We believe literacy is at the heart of all children’s learning and, at Northside, we strive for excellence in English achievement. English is central to children’s intellectual, emotional and social development as it enables them to communicate effectively through spoken and written word. We develop the children’s abilities within a cross – curricular programme of reading, writing and the spoken word.

At Northside, we recognise the importance of language particularly as we are a multi-cultural school where 85% of the children speak English as an additional language. In order to close the vocabulary gap and ensure that our children achieve their full potential we provide a high quality vocabulary-rich environment. Happy to Learn and Inspired to Flourish.  

To ensure that all children benefit from an inclusive and fair learning experience in English we aim to:

• To immerse the children in a vocabulary-rich learning environment.
• To model and develop the use of high-quality spoken and written word.
• To provide opportunities for children to access a range of text types and genres.
• To provide opportunities for pupils to demonstrate a developing imagination.
• To promote and develop a lifelong love of reading and writing.
• To teach a broad and balanced English curriculum across all subjects.

Intent
The Northside Curriculum reflects the multi-cultural aspect of the school whilst opening the children’s eyes to British culture by exposing them to memorable, fun experiences including World Book Day, a Spelling Bee and participating in poetry recitals.  The English curriculum allows children to take risks in a safe environment and builds on key academic and life skills in a progressive way. Through the English curriculum, we aim to provide children with high-quality texts, expose them to various issues and dilemmas and promote equality of opportunity for all. We allow children to express opinions and share ideas in a safe environment where we use mistakes as a pathway to further knowledge and understanding.

Implementation
We implement our creative, topic-based, cross-curricular curriculum through a balance of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic activities. We use a Terrific Text to immerse the children in different cultures, time periods and situations; we use this text to deliver comprehension lessons as well as English writing and topic lessons.

Values (Respect, Pride, Inclusion, Challenge, Creativity, Resilience)

RESPECT – children are taught the value of books from an early age and the well-kept book corners and displays of new materials encourage a love and respect of books. Children are taught to be responsible, maintain their Reading Records and care for the school library- our Rhythm and Reading Room. Positive relationships, healthy attitudes and respect for all are key features of texts chosen and reflect key aspects of NORTHSIDE values.

PRIDE – the teaching of English at Northside promotes confidence in exploring texts. Purple Pen work (see Feedback Policy) enables children to produce work they are proud of, not just ‘done it’ work. Final pieces are showcased in each child’s Best Book. High quality displays and learning environments celebrate pupils’ successes and continued progress throughout the academic year.

INCLUSION – all nationalities and cultures are celebrated and shared through our carefully chosen texts. Parents are encouraged to join their child and celebrate their learning through workshops, open afternoons, Chatty readers, Stay and Play, ESOL classes and subject/cultural days.  

CHALLENGE – in English lessons children are given opportunities to select their own level of challenge for some activities and adaptive teaching strategies are used to enable all children to achieve. Children are exposed to a wide range of challenging fiction and non-fiction texts which are appropriate for their individual ability and enjoyment.

CREATIVITY – children explore characters, illustrations, settings and plots through role play, drama and art. Time is allocated to creative writing to develop a love of words.

RESILIENCE – resilience is promoted through extended writing and dedicated time for DEAR (drop everything and read) develops the children’s concentration and stamina.

Impact
Northside children will achieve academic success becoming confident independent learners ready for their next stage of education. This will be assessed through day to day monitoring and end of key stage summative assessments. Children will leave Northside as respectful, inclusive, creative members of their community who are proud of their achievements and resilient to challenge. 

Through our English curriculum, children are Happy to Learn and Inspired to Flourish.