English Curriculum
Our Vision for English
At Woodheys Primary School, we believe that English is the key to unlocking learning across the curriculum and beyond. We are committed to developing confident communicators, enthusiastic readers and skilled writers who can express themselves clearly, creatively and effectively.
We aim for every child to:
- Develop strong speaking and listening skills that enable them to communicate confidently in a range of contexts and for different audiences and purposes.
- Read fluently, accurately and with understanding across a wide range of high-quality texts.
- Foster a lifelong love of reading and choose to read widely for pleasure and information.
- Build a rich and ambitious vocabulary that supports learning across the curriculum.
- See themselves as successful writers, creating purposeful and engaging pieces for a variety of audiences and genres.
- Write with increasing accuracy, stamina and independence, applying their knowledge of grammar, punctuation and spelling effectively.
- Leave Woodheys with the literacy skills and confidence needed to thrive in secondary education and beyond.
Shaping Our English Curriculum
Language is at the heart of learning. We develop pupils' spoken language, reading, writing and vocabulary through every area of the curriculum. Our English curriculum is carefully designed to ensure that pupils build knowledge, skills and understanding progressively from Reception to Year 6.
High-quality texts, rich vocabulary and purposeful talk sit at the centre of our English curriculum. Through Tales Toolkit, Curious Quests and our Woodheys Writing Model, pupils develop the confidence, knowledge and skills needed to become articulate communicators, enthusiastic readers and successful writers.
We place a strong emphasis on vocabulary development, comprehension, communication and critical thinking, enabling children to become articulate learners who can engage thoughtfully with the world around them.
Our curriculum is inclusive and ambitious, ensuring that all pupils, including those with SEND, EAL and disadvantaged backgrounds, can access and succeed in English through carefully planned adaptations and support.
Reading
Reading lies at the heart of our curriculum and is fundamental to every child's success.
From the moment children enter Reception, reading is prioritised through our Little Wandle phonics programme, high-quality reading practice sessions and daily story experiences. As children progress through school, they are exposed to a rich and diverse range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry that broadens their knowledge, develops empathy and inspires a lifelong love of reading.
Through whole-class reading, shared reading and independent reading opportunities, pupils learn to:
- Read fluently and accurately.
- Retrieve, infer and summarise information.
- Predict and explain ideas.
- Analyse language and authorial choices.
- Discuss themes, characters and viewpoints.
- Make connections between texts and the wider world.
Reading for pleasure is actively promoted through class novels, library experiences, author studies, themed reading events and regular opportunities for adults to read aloud to children. We believe that every child should leave Woodheys as a confident, enthusiastic reader with a genuine love of books.
Spoken Language and Oracy
Spoken language is fundamental to learning and underpins success across the curriculum.
At Woodheys, children are provided with regular opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills through discussion, debate, performance and collaborative learning. They are encouraged to articulate their ideas clearly, listen respectfully to others and respond thoughtfully.
Pupils learn to:
- Speak confidently using Standard English where appropriate.
- Explain and justify their opinions using evidence and reasoning.
- Ask purposeful questions to deepen understanding.
- Build on the ideas of others through discussion.
- Present information clearly to different audiences.
- Develop subject-specific vocabulary across all areas of learning.
These opportunities help children to organise their thinking, deepen understanding and prepare effectively for writing.
Phonics
At Woodheys Primary School, we teach early reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds, a systematic and synthetic phonics programme validated by the Department for Education.
Phonics is taught daily in Reception and Key Stage 1 through engaging, structured lessons that follow a clear progression of learning. Children are taught to recognise sounds, blend sounds to read words and segment words for spelling, enabling them to become confident and fluent readers.
Learning is carefully sequenced to ensure that all children build secure phonics knowledge and apply it consistently in their reading and writing. Regular assessment identifies pupils who may require additional support, and timely keep-up interventions ensure that children remain on track with the programme.
To develop fluency and confidence, children read fully decodable books that are closely matched to the phonics sounds they have been taught. Reading practice sessions take place regularly and focus on developing children's skills in decoding, prosody (reading with expression) and comprehension.
Parents are supported through workshops, information sharing and home reading resources so that they can confidently support their child's early reading journey.
Writing
At Woodheys Primary School, we believe that every child is a writer. Our writing curriculum is designed to develop confident, creative and technically proficient writers who can communicate effectively for a range of audiences and purposes.
Writing is taught progressively across the school through approaches that are carefully tailored to the developmental needs of each age phase whilst maintaining a clear and consistent journey from Early Years to Year 6.
In EYFS, children develop their early storytelling, communication and composition skills through Tales Toolkit. Through imaginative play, oral storytelling and collaborative story creation, children learn the key elements of narrative whilst developing vocabulary, confidence and a love of storytelling. This provides a strong foundation for future writing.
In Key Stage 1, we use Curious Quests to inspire purposeful writing through exciting contexts, high-quality texts and meaningful experiences. Children are encouraged to explore, question, discuss and write for a range of purposes whilst developing the transcriptional and compositional skills needed to become successful writers.
In Key Stage 2, we follow our bespoke Woodheys Writing Model, which has been developed around the core principles of Talk for Writing and adapted to meet the needs of our pupils. Through a structured sequence of learning, children are immersed in high-quality texts, explore language and authorial choices, orally rehearse ideas and learn how to craft effective writing across a range of genres.
Across the school, the writing process includes:
- Immersion in high-quality texts and rich vocabulary.
- Speaking, listening and oral rehearsal opportunities.
- Explicit teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
- Teacher modelling and shared writing.
- Guided and independent writing opportunities.
- Editing, proofreading and redrafting to improve outcomes.
- Publishing and celebrating completed pieces of writing.
Where appropriate, writing is linked to other curriculum subjects to provide meaningful contexts and opportunities for children to apply their skills across the wider curriculum.
We encourage pupils to take pride in their work, develop their own writer's voice and see themselves as successful authors. Children's writing is celebrated through classroom displays, published work, performances and opportunities to share their achievements with the wider school community.
Handwriting
We believe that fluent handwriting supports effective composition and enables children to focus on communicating their ideas.
Children are taught a continuous cursive handwriting style from the Early Years onwards. Handwriting is taught explicitly and practised regularly throughout the school to develop consistency, fluency and presentation.
Pupils are supported to:
- Form letters correctly.
- Develop appropriate pencil grip and posture.
- Join handwriting accurately and consistently.
- Increase writing speed and stamina as they move through Key Stage 2.
- Take pride in the presentation of all written work.
Additional support is provided for any children who require further intervention to develop secure handwriting skills.
