Reading and writing cannot be separated; reading is like breathing in, writing is like breathing out.

Intent

At Burton Pidsea Primary School, we recognise that English underpins all areas of the curriculum and is essential for children to participate fully in education, their community and the wider world. We aim to develop articulate, confident communicators who can speak, read and write fluently and with understanding.

We prioritise reading as the gateway to learning. Through exposure to high-quality, diverse texts, pupils develop vocabulary, cultural understanding and a love of literature. We recognise that vocabulary acquisition is fundamental to success, and we deliberately and systematically develop language across the curriculum through high-quality discussion, explicit teaching and rich reading experiences.

Oracy is central to our curriculum. We provide structured opportunities for children to speak, listen, debate and present, enabling them to articulate ideas clearly and build confidence in communication. As a rural school, we also ensure pupils are immersed in a broad range of cultural experiences and literature that widen their understanding of the world.

Through our English curriculum, we aim for all children to become fluent readers, thoughtful writers and confident speakers, prepared for the next stage of their education and beyond.

Implementation

English is taught daily through carefully sequenced lessons based on the National Curriculum, ensuring clear progression in knowledge and skills across the school.

Reading

We are committed to ensuring that every child learns to read quickly and accurately. In the Early Years and Year 1, children are taught using the Essential Letters and Sounds synthetic phonics programme. Teaching is systematic, consistent and rigorous, focusing on phonemic awareness, blending, segmenting, vocabulary development and early comprehension, in line with the Reading Framework (2023).

Reading practice sessions are closely matched to pupils’ phonic knowledge, ensuring success and building fluency. Children who require additional support receive timely intervention to help them keep up.

From Year 2 onwards, pupils continue to develop fluency, comprehension and reading stamina through whole-class reading and carefully chosen texts. Teaching focuses on key comprehension skills including vocabulary development, retrieval, inference, prediction, explanation, summarising and comparison. High-quality texts from a range of cultures, genres and historical periods are used to broaden knowledge and enrich language.

We aim for children to learn to read, to love to read and to read to learn across the curriculum.

Writing

Our writing curriculum follows the Talk for Writing approach. Units are carefully structured to immerse pupils in high-quality model texts. Through imitation, innovation and independent application, children internalise language structures and vocabulary before applying these in their own writing.

Oracy plays a vital role in writing development. Pupils rehearse ideas aloud, participate in discussion and use collaborative talk to refine their thinking before writing. This supports coherence, vocabulary development and sentence construction.

In the Early Years, in line with the Early Years Strong Foundations guidance, children develop secure foundations in communication, storytelling, mark-making and early writing. They learn grapheme-phoneme correspondence through phonics and begin to write words and simple sentences with increasing independence. Fine motor development and correct letter formation are prioritised.

As pupils progress through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, they are taught spelling, punctuation and grammar explicitly and in context. We use The Spelling Shed scheme to support systematic spelling instruction from Year 2 onwards. Grammar and punctuation are taught within meaningful writing contexts, aligned with the Writing Framework (2024), ensuring pupils understand how language choices affect meaning and impact.

Pupils write for a range of purposes and audiences, planning, drafting, revising and editing their work. Clear success criteria and opportunities for self and peer assessment support pupils in understanding how to improve their writing.

Impact

By the time pupils leave Burton Pidsea Primary School, they are confident, fluent readers who read with accuracy, expression and understanding. They are able to discuss texts thoughtfully, draw inferences and articulate their responses using precise vocabulary.

Children develop as capable writers who can adapt their writing for different purposes and audiences. They demonstrate secure knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar and apply these skills effectively across the curriculum. Pupils show independence in planning, drafting and refining their work.

Strong foundations in oracy ensure that children leave as articulate communicators, able to present ideas clearly and engage respectfully in discussion and debate.

Progress is monitored through ongoing assessment against year group expectations, alongside termly formal reading and writing assessments that inform next steps in teaching. In Year 1, pupils complete the statutory Phonics Screening Check to ensure secure early reading skills. In Year 6, pupils undertake statutory SATs assessments in reading and in spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Through high expectations and carefully sequenced teaching, pupils leave our school well prepared for the literacy demands of secondary education and equipped with the communication skills needed for life in modern Britain and beyond.

	ENGLISH whole school overview B	[pdf 1MB]
	Spelling Shed overview. pdf	[pdf 641KB]