The Curriculum

At Hillbrook, we have developed our own curriculum model and methods in line with the expectations of the National Curriculum. Our topic-based approach to learning enables children to become fully immersed in a topic as well as apply their literacy skills across all subjects. 

CLPE’s ‘authentic writing process’ provides the pedagogical approach for our writing sequences, ensuring pupils follow a truly creative process and have the impetus to write for themselves. At its centre the model shows that a classroom needs to work as a community of writers; a place where the writer identity of all pupils is fostered, developed and celebrated. Communities of writers explore why and how we write. In a classroom the teacher adopts the dual positions of a teacher who is an active and practiced writer and a writer who teaches the craft of writing. In a purposeful writing community, pupils and adults work together to support each other to develop, reflect on and celebrate writing.

Topics and lead texts for each year group can be found on our Whole School Curriculum.

Our English Curriculum Overview maps out the core literacy skills taught in each year group for reading and writing as well as key learning outcomes for each genre of writing. This careful sequencing ensures that skills are introduced gradually and consolidated and built upon as children progress up the school.

Skills are organised in line with the National Curriculum strands:

• Spoken Language
• Reading
  • Word Reading
  • Comprehension (both listening and reading)
• Writing
  • Transcription (spelling and handwriting)
  • Composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing)
  • Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

 English Curriculum Overview