ENGLISH

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum. A love for reading is encouraged and nurtured as soon as our children begin school. Our school library is the first thing that pupils, families and visitors to the schools see when they walk into the school.

Synthetic phonics is taught systematically using the ‘THEP Phonics Programme' and pupils make good progress. By the time pupils enter KS2, the majority can read fluently and decode unknown words using phonic cues. Pupils are able to access their guided reading lessons with a greater emphasis on taught reading skills to support their comprehension.

Our school works with a number of local businesses whose staff volunteer their time to come into school and hear children read once a week. The school embarked on an ambitious Oracy project in 2019, with a strong focus on talking fluently and accurately, expressing ideas and developing pupils’ confidence, self-esteem and communication skills. We see these as vital to equip children for the demands of the 21st century. The oracy framework enables students and teachers to understand effective communication and puts strategies in place to improve speaking and listening skills. This is woven through the whole curriculum and each class has a set of discussion guidelines as we look to embed high quality oracy. Although this initiative was disrupted by the impact of Covid-19, we have relaunched this term (Autumn 2021) and are inducting our new staff.
 

St Paul's Reading Intent & Curriculum Design

St Paul's Whole-School Reading Progression 

St Paul's Writing Intent & Curriculum Design

St Paul's Writing Skills Curriculum Progression