What is the Literary Curriculum?

The use of high quality literature is important in schools; it expands its readers’ horizons, opening minds to concepts and themes such as hope, freedom and justice, as well as providing vital insights into historical settings with geographical and scientific knowledge woven within as part of the narrative.

All our texts sit within literary themes. Each year group has 6 themes and includes a minimum of 12 literary texts that have clear progression.

Below is a sample of the thematic map for Autumn 1, which schools can adopt.

Texts are always selected for their quality and significance. There is a wide variety including classics, award-winning texts (Carnegie, Kate Greenaway, Guardian, Newbery and Caldecott) and celebrated and significant authors such as children’s laureates and poet laureates. The range includes novels, novellas, picture books, wordless texts, narrative poems, playscripts and narrative non-fiction.

Within the range, there is a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction genres, such as historical narrative, mystery, adventure and fantasy.

All plans include engaging starting points to generate interest, engage and activate inference. These link to the books’ themes and employ elements of dramatic conventions, which are maintained and addressed across the sequence.

Plans include explicit grammar objectives so that the grammar skills for writing are seen in context and can be applied within writing. These can be taught ‘discretely’ yet creatively, and still embedded firmly within the context of the book.

In addition, planning integrates spelling investigations and activities, so that patterns and rules can be explored, discovered and then used purposefully within writing.

Built into the plans are a variety of shorter and longer writing opportunities that are purposeful and pertinent to particular points of text. Children are encouraged to write in role, with bias and for a distinct audience, rather than writing in one fixed genre for the whole planning sequence.

Collectively the sequences help children build a literary repertoire; develop a knowledge of significant authors and prepares them for the subject content of critical reading at Key stage 3.

This can best be answered who have used our planning sequences throughout their schools to support their agenda in raising attainment in writing:

‘The Literary Curriculum has without question brought about a dramatic improvement in the quality of children’s writing – particularly the boys – and I was so proud at our cross-school moderation meeting when our children’s writing had all sorts of literary features which they were using very naturally’

Dan Paton, Deputy Headteacher, Arnot St Mary Primary, Liverpool.

‘Our GSP and writing scores were fantastic this year due to all the Literacy Tree planning sequences we follow. We were 93% Expected and 53% Greater Depth when 2 years ago we were 65% expected.’

Amanda Webb, Headteacher, Talavera Junior School, Hampshire

Read some of our other testimonials here.

We run an extensive training programme from our base in London that supports all aspects of the delivery, subject knowledge and pedagogy of our approach. However, we are not London-centric and our consultants are happy to travel. In the past year we have delivered book-based training across the UK and in Europe. Please contact us to discuss your training and inset needs: