English at Meldreth Primary School

What does English look like at Meldreth Primary?

Reading and writing are central to the school day and our curriculum is designed so that children leave Meldreth as fluent, comprehending readers with a love of books, and clear and engaging writers who can communicate their thoughts and feelings. 

The vast majority of our written work links to topic work and to texts we have carefully chosen to motivate, inspire and broaden children’s knowledge of literature. Teachers create meaningful reasons for writing, with a clear purpose and audience. Each piece of written work is careful scaffolded in small steps to ensure successful learning, and this is balanced with the children having regular independent writing opportunities to show what they know! The teaching of spelling and grammar, essential tools for writing, is embedded in each writing unit.

Listening to, reading and performing poetry is embedded in our curriculum, and listening to an adult read  every single day to develop a love of reading and a wide vocabulary is a non-negotiable! 

In Early Years Foundation Stage and through to Year 1 we use the FFT Success for All Letters and Sounds scheme to support our rigorous approach to the teaching of phonics.  We have group reading books which link to the daily phonics teaching, which are read three times in class for decoding, prosody and comprehension. 

Where a need for additional support in phonics and early reading is identified, our staff are trained to deliver ‘FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad’. This takes a blended approach with both face-to-face and online platform tutoring to improve reading skills.

 
Our Curriculum Aims
The overarching aim is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. Our curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
  • read easily, fluently and with good understanding
  • develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
  • acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
  • appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
  • write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
  • use discussion in order to learn; they are able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
  • are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate
Download our whole school curriculum plan for Reading & Writing by clicking the links below