Throughout Lower School, English is a core part of our daily curriculum, supporting children in developing strong foundations in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Our approach is designed to inspire confidence, creativity and a love of language from an early age.
To support pupils’ early reading and writing, we follow the Twinkl Phonics scheme. This DfE validated full systematic, synthetic phonics programme enables children to build secure foundations for fluent reading and accurate spelling.
We use the ‘I am a Clever Writer’ programme to guide and structure our writing lessons. This approach focuses on one key SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) skill or writing technique per week which the children explore, practice and then apply through a series of carefully planned and structured writing lessons. Throughout the year each concept, rule, skill or technique is added to their ‘I am a Clever Writer Checklist’ which provides consistent success criteria for all writing both in English and across other curriculum areas. This approach encourages children to take ownership of their writing, helping them to develop the key skills of planning, structuring and editing their work while building a rich vocabulary and an understanding of purpose and audience.
More information can be found about ‘I am a Clever Writer’ on their website. https://www.iamacleverwriter.co.uk/
Ninja SPaG is used regularly to revisit and reinforce grammar, punctuation and spelling concepts in a fun and engaging way. This ensures that key grammatical knowledge is consolidated over time and applied confidently in independent work.
More information can be found about Ninja Spag on their website.
Our pupils also complete weekly spelling tests to support the retention and application of key spelling rules and patterns alongside the Common Exception Words for each year group.
At the end of each term, children complete standardised assessments in Reading and SPaG. These assessments provide clear and consistent information for parents, helping them to track their child’s progress and attainment throughout the year.
The combination of these approaches and activities aims to nurture enthusiastic, capable readers and writers who are well-equipped for the next stage of their learning.
