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Our English Curriculum

"When I read great literature, great drama,speeches,or sermons, I feel that the human mind has not achieved anything greater than the ability to share feelings and thoughts through language."

James Earl Jones

INTENT- What we want our pupils to learn...

Our English curriculum is designed to ensure that every pupil becomes a confident, fluent reader and an effective writer, grounded in strong foundational skills. We prioritise the development of early reading skills, recognising that reading underpins success across the curriculum and lifelong learning.

To achieve this, we follow the principles of the Reading Framework (2023), which emphasises systematic, high-quality phonics instruction as the basis for early reading. To deliver this effectively, we implement the Sounds-Write programme,  a structured, cumulative phonics scheme that enables pupils to master decoding and word-reading skills with confidence and accuracy. Through Sounds-Write, pupils develop the essential building blocks of reading, broadening their vocabulary and strengthening their understanding of the relationships between sounds and written language. Once pupils have successfully passed the phonics screening check, the Sounds-Write programme continues to support their literacy development into Key Stage 2. Teaching builds on secure decoding foundations, enabling pupils to tackle increasingly complex and polysyllabic words with confidence. Pupils explore advanced sound–spelling correspondences, word structures and morphological patterns, including prefixes, suffixes and root words.

Through explicit instruction and regular practice, children develop strategies to read and spell unfamiliar vocabulary, supporting accuracy, fluency and independence. This continued, systematic approach ensures that phonics remains a tool for learning, helping pupils master more complex spelling patterns and apply them effectively across the wider curriculum.

In addition to phonics, we draw on evidence-based comprehension strategies, including those promoted through Reading Theatre approaches (EEF) and the Literacy Shed VIPERS approach, which both support pupils to develop reading fluency, engage deeply with texts, build inferential and analytical skills, and develop a rich, expressive reading experience.

We use an evidenced-based (EEF- Reading House) approach to develop reading fluency and comprehension. There are daily reading lessons. These ensure:

  • That pupils develop he ability to apply and identify the correct pronunciation of written words immediately and without conscious effort.
  • That pupils develop the ability to read smoothly and effortlessly decoding words while also comprehending and interpreting the text.
  • Fluent readers demonstrate automaticity in recognising words, allowing them to focus on comprehension and deeper understanding of the content.

We use the Accelerated Reader programme to determine and track each child’s reading level with the opportunity to choose from a range of appropriately levelled books.

Once pupils are secure in their phonic knowledge (from Year 2 onwards), children make the transition to books which are tailored to their comprehension levels. They carry out a ‘Star test’ assessment which gives a reading age and a numbered range of appropriate books. Using Book Levels and their reading range as a guide, pupils then choose from a range of books appropriate to their interests and levels. A free online book-searching tool AR BookFinder allows students, teachers and parents to find interesting books at the appropriate level. After finishing a book, students take an online Reading Practice quiz within AR. These quizzes check that the student has understood the book and provides an opportunity to praise the student and give verbal or written feedback.

Writing:

In writing, we ensure that pupils develop the full range of foundational skills identified in the Writing Framework (2025). We place particular emphasis on:

Transcription – pupils learn fluent, legible handwriting through the Learn to Write programme and secure spelling through systematic phonics-linked practice via Sounds-Write;

Composition – we focus on sentence-level mastery and clear, systematic instruction in how sentences are formed and used.  Pupils are taught to plan and craft meaningful, purposeful writing with a clear audience, choosing vocabulary, structure and tone appropriate to audience and genre. We use a range of high-quality resources to support the planning and teaching of writing, including The Literacy Tree. Plans are carefully adapted to promote a ‘teaching through a text’ approach, ensuring that reading and writing are meaningfully connected and rooted in high-quality literature.

Editing and Revision – editing and revising are planned parts of the writing process. Pupils are regularly given structured opportunities to review and improve their work, with clear teacher modelling and guidance. Through this process, they learn to refine their writing for clarity, accuracy and coherence, becoming more independent in evaluating and strengthening their own work.

Across both reading and writing, our curriculum ensures that teaching is explicit, cumulative and responsive to pupils’ needs. By integrating strong early reading instruction with a purposeful approach to writing composition and revision, we aim to develop confident communicators who can read fluently, think critically and express themselves clearly and creatively.

“ Pupils need to have the whole process demonstrated for them and see “the struggle, the thinking, the pondering, the messiness of it all- because most struggling writers believe good writers are born, not honed through practice.”

    Graham, S and Harris, K. (2019)

    IMPLEMENTATION- What does learning in English look like?

  • What does the teaching and learning of phonics look like at Guestling Bradshaw School?
    • Access to high quality, discrete, daily phonics sessions in Foundation Stage and KS1, using the Sounds-Write programme.
    • Access to spelling and writing practice in every session.
    • Close matching of phonics books to support reading practice at the appropriate phonic level for all children.
    • Use of multi-sensory approaches to support learning.
    • Regular and rigorous tracking of all children using Phonicstracker and phonics screening gap analysis
    • Early and immediate intervention of children requiring additional support, including use of 1:1 tutoring.
    • Continued intervention into KS2 for identified children.
    • What does the teaching and learning of reading look like in EYFS?

      The teaching of reading in EYFS:

      Our priority in the early years is threefold: to equip our young children with the phonic skills required to access reading, to build the foundations for comprehension skills leading to a deepening understanding of quality texts, and to foster a real and lasting love of reading for the pleasure it gives.

      • Daily systematic synthetic phonics sessions 
      • Daily English sessions
      • 3X weekly group reading with further intervention groups when need is identified.
      • Daily story-telling
      • Development of enhanced provision opportunities to bring books alive, including book corner, small world, puppets, role-play, drama and storytelling.
    • What does the teaching and learning of reading look like in KS1?
      • Daily systematic synthetic phonics  
      • Daily English sessions
      • Year 1: 5 X weekly group reading with further intervention groups when need is identified.
      • Year 2 Daiy reading sessions with further intervention groups when need is identified.
      • Daily reading for pleasure and storytime 
      • Individual reading with targeted pupils 
      • Further phonics 'Keep- up' and 'Catch-up ' interventions
    • What does the teaching and learning of reading look like in KS2?
      • Daily English sessions
      • Daily reading for pleasure and storytime 
      • Individual reading with targeted pupils 
      • Further phonics 'Keep- up' and 'Catch-up ' interventions
      • Daily Reading Theatre with the use of the 'VIPERS' comprehension questioning

       

Writing

  • What does the teaching and learning of writing look like in EYFS?
    • Transcription skills are prioritised in EYFS: spelling is taught using the Sounds-Write phonics programme; letter formation is explicitly taught using the Learn-to-Write handwriting scheme and is reinforced through written rehearsal within daily phonics sessions
    • Activities which support the development of fine and gross motor skills are integrated into daily practice (e.g. threading beads, cutting tasks, use of playdough)
    • High-quality texts, which reflect children’s interests, are used daily as a stimulus to enhance and stimulate writing opportunities within EYFS
    • Oral language development underpins written composition: oral rehearsal before writing is expected and encouraged – pupils rehearse sentences out loud; teachers model and correct spoken sentences; small group discussions are used to rehearse sentence ideas
    • The teaching of sentence construction is contextualized for children: teachers model the writing process and think-aloud the process used (e.g. highlighting spaces between words and known phonics content to support spelling); Colourful Semantics is used as a tool to support sentence construction, using visual cues to help children break down and construct grammatically correct sentences
    • Teachers provide live, verbal feedback to support and encourage the writing process
    • Opportunities for daily, child-initiated writing opportunities are provided within daily classroom provision: e.g. teachers provide opportunities for mark making and emergent writing, both inside and outside of the classroom; role-play areas provide opportunities for writing experiences
  • What does the teaching and learning of writing look like in KS1 and KS2?
    • Context for learning is vital – through using high quality texts, objectives set within daily writing sessions all have meaning and purpose, which provide a hook for learning
    • The purpose and audience for writing is made clear from the outset. Children have real reasons to write, whether to explain, persuade, inform or instruct and where possible, this can be embedded within text or linked to a curriculum area. A class’ termly theme will link directly to writing that takes place across the curriculum, and these themes are built upon  as the children progress through school (see appendix 1).
    • As much as possible, national curriculum objectives are covered more than once and children have opportunities to apply these several times over the course of a year, as well as to consolidate prior knowledge from previous years. We believe strongly that children should be secure in applying the skills of curriculum 2014 within their writing.
    • Working Walls are used to build children’s independence in writing, through providing scaffolds, prompts and reminders of learning to support them when writing.
    • Teachers provide effective feedback, in line with our Marking and Feedback Policy.
    • In Upper Key Stage 2, we build stamina for writing by providing opportunities to write independently and for extended periods.
    • Editing and reviewing form a large part of lesson time – with age-appropriate strategies for green-pen response marking used across the school.

Guestling Bradshaw CE Primary School | Hosted by New Era Technology

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