We have a cohesive approach where decisions are made together and links are made across all strands because we believe this will raise attainment and standards. Our English curriculum consists of reading, writing and grammar; however these are not taught independently of each other but explicitly linked throughout all teaching and learning. 

It is our vision that every child, regardless of starting point, will learn to become competent and capable across all strands of English by being provided with an inspiring, engaging and robust curriculum, that equips all children with the essentials skills and building blocks they need to become proficient in English and throughout their school career and into their lives beyond. 

We aim to develop a lifelong love of reading, through providing children with a breath of opportunities to read within the school day and across the curriculum. In addition, we provide opportunities for them to take high-quality texts home from our well-resourced library. We intend that our children will be able to read fluently, quickly, accurately and with appropriate stress and intonation while also being able to comprehend throughout all subjects. Curriculum in our school will be enhanced using a wide range of fiction, poetry, non-fiction and reference books linked to topics. Different text types are carefully selected, across all year groups, so that children are systematically exposed to a variety of genres.  Phonics intervention takes place to support pupils who have not yet passed the Year 1 Phonics test and is taught through the government approved program - BugClub phonics.

Reading skills are taught through whole class lessons:

Oracy (Speaking & Listening) 

We focus on supporting and developing speaking and listening skills across the whole school curriculum. Speaking and listening skills give us the basic skills we need to communicate with the world around us.  The development of these skills doesn’t just stop when we learn how to talk and respond to others as young children.    

What's new in reading? 

This year we have invested in amazing new Reading Journals which include reading activities and questions you may want to ask your child. There is an expectation that these are in school every day and that your child reads daily and these are signed. 

• Year 6 spoke to Catherine Johnson about her book Freedom 1783
• We have added a range of graphic novels and classic texts to our library
• The whole school celebrated National Poetry Day on the 7th October
• Every took part in DROP IT AND READ on Hello Yellow Day - Friday 8th October
• World Book Day on 3rd March 2022 where we listened to the opening of a story that we chose to listen to and shared our favourite texts
• Year 6 had a visit and workshop from the author Isabelle Thomas in Spring term 2 to discuss her beautifully illustrated non-fiction texts, which linked with our science topic of adaptation.
• In the summer term we are launching myON across the school: an exciting new e-book library system that children can access both in school and at home.