Our English curriculum at Paddington ensures all students will become confident, fluent readers and communicators, with an appreciation of how our language and literature inform, inspire and impact in the world beyond the classroom.
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum with text choices that are carefully sequenced and become progressively more challenging and complex to enable students to become confident, fluent readers. At the core of students’ studies are a diverse range of rich texts which expose students to complex themes, ideas and characters, and help to shape and challenge their own views of the wider world. We believe it is important that all students study these high-quality texts which also address universal ideas, and offer both a ‘mirror’ and a ‘window’ to the world in which we live.
We ensure that every student has a secure foundational knowledge of the English language, including a secure understanding of grammar and its importance in writing. We know the importance of students being able to write fluently and in a variety of contexts, and writing lessons focus on explicitly teaching and rehearsing the knowledge and skills required to do so confidently. We encourage discussion and debate around issues, and give students the tools to form an informed personal response. Modelling underpins every lesson in order to teach students how to communicate confidently and fluently when speaking and writing independently.
It is crucial that our students develop an appreciation of how our language and literature inform, inspire and impact in the wider world. Therefore, through our chosen texts, we expose all students to a wide range of forms, purposes and eras. Each text choice allows the opportunity for rich discussions around language, and its importance and purpose within both literature and the wider world. We explicitly teach vocabulary and grammar to develop students’ confidence with using and applying language in different contexts both inside and outside of the classroom, and our students are encouraged to question writers’ views and opinions, as well as their own, to better understand the world around them.