English
Context
At Fairfield, English encourages pupils to become thoughtful readers, confident speakers and creative, accurate writers. Through literature and language, they explore ideas, cultures and experiences beyond their own. We want pupils to develop curiosity, express informed opinions and recognise how reading and communication can enrich their lives and help them understand the world.
Our five-year curriculum builds from secure foundations towards increasingly challenging texts and forms of expression. Pupils encounter novels, plays, poetry and influential speeches, including Shakespeare, while developing their own analytical and creative writing. Revisiting important knowledge and practising key skills helps them become more independent readers, writers and thinkers, prepared for further learning and life beyond school.
An Inclusive Curriculum
All pupils encounter a challenging English curriculum, supported by teaching that responds to their needs. Explicit vocabulary teaching, reading practice and structured discussion help remove barriers to participation. Texts introduce different voices and experiences, including female perspectives and writing from other cultures, enabling pupils to broaden their understanding while developing confidence in their own ideas.
Powerful Knowledge
Pupils build knowledge of language, literary texts and the contexts that shape meaning. They learn how sentences and texts work, how writers create effects and how to construct interpretations supported by evidence. Recurring ideas such as power, morality and inequality help pupils make connections and develop the understanding needed to think as writers and literary critics.
Assessment
Assessment helps teachers understand what pupils can recall, explain and apply in their reading and writing. Regular classroom checks sit alongside planned assessments and, at Key Stage 4, mock examinations. Pupils practise the required forms of writing beforehand, while teachers use assessment findings to identify misconceptions, revisit learning and plan focused support.
Feedback
Feedback gives pupils clear guidance on how to improve their reading, writing and understanding. Teachers use discussion, model responses and whole-class feedback to explain strengths and priorities. Pupils then complete purposeful activities, such as revising a paragraph, practising a writing technique or revisiting knowledge, so that feedback informs both their current work and future attempts.
Expert Teaching
Teachers model how skilled readers interpret texts and how writers plan, draft and edit their work. Complex tasks are broken into manageable parts, with guided practice before greater independence. Questioning, discussion and regular checks for understanding help teachers respond to pupils’ needs and make the thinking behind effective reading and writing visible.
Literacy
Literacy is central to every aspect of English. Pupils practise reading for fluency and meaning, learn vocabulary systematically and develop accurate written expression. Structured talk helps them explore and refine ideas before writing, while clear discussion routines support respectful participation. These experiences strengthen the communication skills pupils need across the curriculum and beyond school.
Supporting Pupils with SEND
Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities study the same ambitious ideas and texts, with support adapted to their barriers. Teachers draw on Individual Support Plans and use models, writing frames, guided reading or adjusted task structure where appropriate. Support helps pupils manage complex work, express thoughtful responses and develop independence without limiting the knowledge available to them.
Home Learning
Home learning complements classroom teaching through purposeful practice, reading and revision. At Key Stage 3, pupils complete fortnightly compulsory practice, with optional revision opportunities alongside regular reading. School library books and Sora support access to reading, while planned revision across both key stages helps pupils revisit texts, strengthen recall and consolidate their learning over time.
Careers
English develops the ability to interpret information, build an argument and communicate clearly for different audiences. These skills provide foundations for further study and pathways such as journalism, law, publishing, education and communications. Reading widely and considering different perspectives also help pupils develop the judgement, creativity and confidence needed across many working environments.
