The English Curriculum
In English the children learn through the strands of language, phonics, reading, handwriting and writing. We believe it is important to link these concepts to develop a love of reading for pleasure and to become confident writers.
Phonics and Reading
Teaching children decoding skills is a top priority in our curriculum to enable children to access learning across the curriculum and for the future development of their own reading. Phonics begins early on in Reception and follows a clear progressive sequence into Year 1 and beyond. The scheme we use is called Little Wandle. We promote a love of reading by giving the children confidence in their abilities and the motivation to read interesting books. Prosody and comprehension are built into the reading progression alongside blending and fluency. By embedding these skills our children will progress from learning to read to reading to learn and enable them to get lost in an adventure. Our texts are carefully chosen to provide rich language opportunities giving children the exposure to more complex vocabulary and include a diverse range of authors and characters.
Handwriting and Writing
We recognise the path of physical development of children when it comes to handwriting. The progression of pre-writing skills is sequenced to enable the children to be prepared for more formal handwriting when they are individually ready. The aim is for the children to leave KS1 with the ability to join some of the letters in their writing. We provide opportunities for writing for a range of purposes, that are relevant to the children. The children use their skills and knowledge from engaging texts, discussion, phonics and handwriting to produce work that they can be proud of. We ensure the children can develop their vocabulary to enable them to express themselves in the written form. This equips the children with key writing skills that can be transferred across the curriculum.
We believe our whole school consistent approach to English, motivates the children to learn and provides them with key literacy skills for life.
Phonics and Early Reading