“If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do the thinking for them”

Eric Blair (George Orwell)

Intent

At Park Lane Primary School, English is central to the life of our learning and underpins all areas of the curriculum. By equipping children with the skills, knowledge and experiences to become confident orators, writers and readers, we prepare them to think critically, communicate effectively and engage fully with the world around them. Our English strategy is rooted in the 2014 National Curriculum, which we aim not only to meet but exceed through an enriched and well-sequenced curriculum that builds cumulatively on prior knowledge and skills as pupils progress through our school. We ensure that we provide all children with depth, breadth and ambition in their learning – promoting a love of reading and writing whereby children want to achieve with enjoyment. We encourage our Griffins to use every space in school as a reading opportunity.

We support our children to speak with clarity, confidence and purpose, developing a wide vocabulary in a range of situations, from small-group discussions to formal performances. Oracy is a school-wide priority, helping children to develop their voice, share their opinions and engage meaningfully with the world around them.

From the beginning of their journey at Park Lane, we encourage and equip parents and families to engage with our curriculum and extend their children’s learning at home so that we all grow as a learning community together. Through strong home-school partnerships, families help take an active role in developing their child’s English learning, from early reading to confident authorship.

Implementation

In Early Years, children are provided with the foundations to becoming successful readers and writers. To discover more about early reading and our development of phonics, please see our Early Reading subject page. In Years 1-6, the children build on previous experiences, learning to improve their oracy (speaking and listening), reading (including word reading and comprehension) and writing (including spelling, punctuation and grammar).

Oracy

We develop confident communicators through a range of opportunities and activities throughout the curriculum and school life. With performing arts being a key part of our offer, allowing children at Park Lane to learn, perform, and adapt texts during English lessons and through events such as the monologue festival and Griffin Arts Festival. As a Royal Shakespeare Associate school, we further enhance their knowledge and performance skills through engagement with the works of William Shakespeare. Beyond lessons, children are encouraged to use and develop their oracy skills across all aspects of school life, including debates, drama activities, assemblies, presentations, and opportunities to articulate and share their learning with others. Children learn to adapt language for purpose, audience and context, developing clarity, tone and confidence when speaking.

Reading

Reading begins with the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. A key part of this is systematic synthetic phonics sessions that start in Nursery and continue throughout Reception, Year 1, and Year 2. We follow the Read Write Inc scheme, which is a progressive programme supporting children through the early stages of reading and building the foundations necessary for later learning. In Key Stage 2, phonics remains the cornerstone of decoding and spelling. Children who require additional support continue to receive phonics interventions for as long as needed, closely monitored by our SENco.

To expose children to a wide variety of texts, our curriculum includes regular opportunities to explore literature such as whole-class story times, shared reading, buddy reading, guided reading, reciprocal reading, and one-to-one reading. Every child in school is read with on an individual basis, supported by a team of adults including teachers, teaching assistants, SLT, and our nurture team. Children are encouraged not only to read but to engage deeply with texts through taught skills that help them make connections between different texts, discuss similarities and differences between authors and their experiences, retrieve information, predict what might happen next, infer characters’ feelings, and summarise or define words and phrases. These lessons focus on the reading domains, which are clearly labelled in our English books with the Twinkl Reading Domain Dogs. The Domain Dogs are dispayed within classrooms for children to understand the skills they are using within reading lessons.

We immerse ourselves in book-related experiences and firmly believe that any space can be a reading space, aiming to inspire and motivate young readers. In Reception and Key Stage 1, children use the Oxford Owl Phonics Library to access their Read Write Inc reading books, selected by their reading teachers to match their fluency and comprehension levels. Alongside these, pupils have access to a range of books for enjoyment, free to take home to be read with family members to foster a love of reading. By Year 2, as their confidence grows, children transition to our Accelerated Reader scheme, which tracks their reading age and comprehension of pupils through quizzes and tests. This scheme continues throughout Key Stage 2, supporting their progress toward the Key Stage 2 SATs in Year 6.

Throughout the year, our Griffins also have opportunities to celebrate reading through events such as World Book Day, as well as meeting authors in person. Through discussions with authors about their careers, children are able to view writing as a potential career path and understand the journey to get there.

Writing

Throughout their time at Park Lane, children develop their writing skills through a variety of genres, including narratives, poetry, reports, persuasive writing, and factual accounts. We emphasise the three main purposes for writing: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. By understanding their purpose, children learn to select language and structures that not only suit the genre but also engage the reader and maintain focus.

Writing opportunities are integrated across the curriculum, allowing children to apply their English learning in different subject areas. In writing lessons, children follow a structured approach: they begin by analysing model texts to identify key features, and writing purpose; then children dive into the specific vocabulary required to enhance that piece of writing; next the children build sentences to support the next step of independent planning; with support and feedback children plan their ideas; using their plan, children draft their writing through rehearsal; following this is editing and revisions to their work using purple pens; and finally publish their work for display in the writing gallery. Clear success criteria are set for each piece to ensure high expectations are met.

We believe that effective editing is fundamental to becoming a strong writer. Children at Park Lane are taught to be reflective writers who take motivation and pride in improving their work. This process is supported through the use of checklists, peer marking, teacher discussions, one-to-one sessions, and whole-class feedback. Our consistent and sequential teaching of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and handwriting throughout the school further supports the development of fluent writers.

For handwriting, we use a whole-school approach based on the Letter Join scheme, which begins in Reception and progresses as children learn to join their handwriting, culminating in the awarding of a pen licence.

For spelling, children have access to the Spelling Shed app, which they use both at school and at home. This interactive platform allows children to practise spellings and common exception words relevant to their year group, as well as spelling rules taught in class. Teachers can preset word lists, while children can also choose personal focus areas, making spelling practice fun and engaging.

Our EYFS settings include a print-rich environment, well-stocked writing areas, and story-driven invitations to write across the provision. Writing is visible and valued—whether it’s on clipboards in the construction area, labels in small world play, or storytelling prompts in the book corner .Adults write alongside children, modelling writing in context and linking it to books, interests, and play. Throughthis rich environment, children develop fluency, independence, and pride in authorship. Embedding writing in these meaningful contexts makes it joyful, achievable, and deeply engaging. .

Families are actively involved in supporting their children’s learning at home through workshops, consultations, open communication with class teachers via Seesaw, and family support videos. This reflects our commitment to growing as a learning community together. To further encourage a love of reading beyond the classroom, we provide a weekly Sunday night Storytime available on our school’s YouTube channel, connecting families and children with our passion for reading across the wider community.

Impact

Through the delivery of our rich and well-structured English curriculum, our Griffins develop a lasting love of reading, writing, and oracy, which equips them with the confidence and ability to communicate effectively. At Park Lane, children learn to articulate their thoughts clearly and creatively, using reading and writing as tools to explore, understand, and shape the world around them.

As they progress through the school, children build a broad range of skills that enable them to become fluent readers and writers, capable of expressing themselves independently. They develop the ability to recognise and retrieve the information they need, apply critical thinking to evaluate and challenge ideas, and transfer their literacy skills across a wide range of contexts. By the time they leave Park Lane, pupils are able to work both independently and collaboratively, and have developed a strong command of the English language.

Progress in reading and writing is closely monitored through a range of both informal and formal assessments. Daily interactions and observations inform teachers’ planning and next steps. In Key Stage 2, children complete half-termly Star Reading tests to track their reading age and comprehension skills. In the Early Years and Key Stage 1, teachers assess reading progress through regular one-to-one reading sessions and observation against Early Learning Goals. Writing is moderated regularly within year groups, across the school, and in collaboration with local authority partners and the Midlands Hub of Trust schools. This ensures that high standards are maintained, progression is evident, and expectations are consistent throughout the academic year.

Reading achievement is recognised and celebrated in our weekly values assembly, as well as our half-termly reading celebration assemblies, where children are rewarded for their effort and engagement with reading at home and at school. Family involvement continues to play a crucial role in sustaining high standards, with families supported through online videos, shared platforms such as Seesaw, and regular updates via our social media channels. These partnerships help reinforce key vocabulary and strategies at home, ensuring a joined-up approach to every child’s literacy journey.

Curriculum Documents