Curriculum Ideas & School Examples

2. Key processes

2.1 Speaking and listening

• present information and points of view clearly and appropriately in different contexts, adapting talk for a range of purposes and audiences, including the more formal
• use a range of ways to structure and organise their speech to support their purposes and guide the listener
• vary vocabulary, structures and grammar to convey meaning, including speaking standard English fluently
• engage an audience, using a range of techniques to explore, enrich and explain their ideas
• listen and respond constructively to others, taking different views into account and modifying their own views in the light of what others say
• understand explicit and implicit meanings
• make different kinds of relevant contributions in groups, responding appropriately to others, proposing ideas and asking questions
• take different roles in organising, planning and sustaining talk in groups
• sift, summarise and use the most important points
• use different dramatic approaches to explore ideas, texts and issues
• use different dramatic techniques to convey action, character, atmosphere and tension
• explore the ways that words, actions, sound and staging combine to create dramatic moments.

2.2 Reading

• extract and interpret information, events, main points and ideas from texts
• infer and deduce meanings, recognising the writers’ intentions
• understand how meaning is constructed within sentences and across texts as a whole
• select and compare information from different texts
• assess the usefulness of texts, sift the relevant from the irrelevant and distinguish between fact and opinion
• recognise and discuss different interpretations of texts, justifying their own views on what they read and see, and supporting them with evidence
• understand how audiences and readers choose and respond to texts
• understand how the nature and purpose of texts influences the selection of content and its meanings
• understand how meaning is created through the combination of words, images and sounds in multimodal texts.

• how texts are crafted to shape meaning and produce particular effects
• how writers structure and organise different texts, including non-linear and multimodal
• how writers’ uses of language and rhetorical, grammatical and literary features influence the reader
• how writers present ideas and issues to have an impact on the reader
• how form, layout and presentation contribute to effect
• how themes are explored in different texts
• how texts relate to the social, historical and cultural context in which they were written.

2.3 Writing

• write clearly and coherently, including an appropriate level of detail
• write imaginatively, creatively and thoughtfully, producing texts that interest and engage the reader
• generate and harness new ideas and develop them in their writing
• adapt style and language appropriately for a range of forms, purposes and readers
• maintain consistent points of view in fiction and non-fiction writing
• use imaginative vocabulary and varied linguistic and literary techniques to achieve particular effects
• structure their writing to support the purpose of the task and guide the reader
• use clearly demarcated paragraphs to organise meaning
• use complex sentences to extend, link and develop ideas
• vary sentence structure for interest, effect and subtleties of meaning
• consider what the reader needs to know and include relevant details
• use formal and impersonal language and concise expression
• develop logical arguments and cite evidence
• use persuasive techniques and rhetorical devices
• form their own view, taking into account a range of evidence and opinions
• present material clearly, using appropriate layout, illustrations and organisation
• use planning, drafting, editing, proofreading and self-evaluation to shape and craft their writing for maximum effect
• summarise and take notes
• write legibly, with fluency and, when required, speed.

• use the conventions of standard English effectively
• use grammar accurately in a variety of sentence types, including subject–verb agreement and correct and consistent use of tense
• signal sentence structure by the effective use of the full range of punctuation marks to clarify meaning
• spell correctly, increasing their knowledge of regular patterns of spelling, word families, roots of words and derivations, including prefixes, suffixes and inflections.