English: Reading, Writing and Oracy

“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai

At Abingdon, we believe that language is a gateway to belonging, participation, confidence and achievement. Our English curriculum enables children to read, write, speak and listen with increasing fluency, accuracy and confidence so that they can express their ideas, understand others and participate fully in the world around them.

Our English curriculum is inclusive, ambitious and deliberately shaped for the children of Abingdon. We follow the Middlesbrough English Hub English Curriculum, while carefully adapting and enriching it to reflect our children, our community and their experiences.

We want every child to become a confident communicator and a successful reader and writer. We also want children to develop a genuine love of language and literature: to find themselves in books, to encounter lives and experiences different from their own, and to discover the possibilities that reading can open up.

Reading: Mirrors and Windows

Reading is fundamental to learning across the curriculum and to children’s wider development. At Abingdon, reading is therefore not simply taught as a skill; it is a means of opening the world.

We deliberately select the books children study and the books they encounter for pleasure. Our texts provide mirrors, enabling children to see themselves, their families, cultures, languages and experiences represented, and windows, enabling them to encounter people, places, cultures, beliefs and experiences beyond their own.

This deliberate representation reflects our inclusion strategy: every child should see themselves in our curriculum, while every child should also be invited to see beyond themselves.

We consider authors, illustrators, characters, themes and perspectives carefully so that our reading curriculum broadens children’s knowledge, vocabulary, empathy and understanding. Literature becomes a vehicle for developing not only literacy, but also cultural capital, oracy, identity and belonging.

Alongside our taught reading curriculum, every child has access to carefully chosen reading-for-pleasure books. These choices are not an afterthought; they are part of our entitlement. These are a shared class story at the end of the day.

Once the children have progressed into reading with more fluency, usually within year 2, they progress on to books which are not fully decodable. These are carefully selected and supported alongside the child so that they are able to read increasingly complex and challenging texts. In KS2, children have access to ERIC (Everyone, Reading in Class) books, a carefully selected and curated selection of books to cover a range of genres. These are the children’s independent reading books and are designed to ensure that children have access to a book suited to their reading ability and interests.

Our aim is for children to become fluent, accurate, thoughtful, independent and enthusiastic readers who choose to read because they know that books can inform, challenge, comfort, entertain and inspire.

Phonics: Building the Foundations for Fluency

We use Sounds-Write, a linguistic phonics programme, to teach children to read, spell and write with accuracy, understanding and confidence.

Phonics is taught systematically and explicitly from the beginning of school, with children learning to understand the relationship between sounds and spellings and to apply this knowledge when reading and writing.

Children practise using decodable texts matched to their developing phonic knowledge, alongside opportunities to experience high-quality literature through reading for pleasure.

Once children have completed the Sounds-Write programme, we adapt our approach in KS2 to continue developing spelling knowledge and application rather than allowing phonics teaching to become disconnected from children’s wider literacy development.

We also use Phonics to Fluency and Lexonic as part of our wider approach to developing reading fluency and supporting children who require additional precision and practice.

The statutory Year 1 Phonics Screening Check provides one national checkpoint in this journey. Children who do not yet meet the expected standard continue to receive targeted support and are rechecked in Year 2.

Assessment, Intervention and Catch-Up

We use assessment to identify what children know, what they can do and, crucially, what they need next.

Alongside ongoing teacher assessment, we use NFER reading assessment from the end of Year 1 to provide a consistent measure of reading attainment and progress. This information, together with phonics information, classroom evidence and teacher knowledge, helps us identify children who may need additional support.

Intervention is not a separate curriculum for children who are struggling. It is a carefully targeted response to a specific barrier. Children may receive additional phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension or reading practice depending on their needs.

Our approach is particularly important for children with SEND, children who are new to English, children who have experienced disrupted education and children who may have had fewer opportunities to develop language and literacy outside school.

We adapt the route, not the ambition.

Our Breakfast Club also provides an additional opportunity for targeted reading, quiet reading and adult check-ins before the formal school day begins. This means that some children can access additional reading support in a calm, nurturing environment before learning starts.

Reading and the Statutory Assessment Journey

We use national assessment points alongside our own assessment information to build a clear picture of children’s reading development.

These include:

• Reception: the Reception Baseline Assessment and EYFS Profile;
• Year 1: the statutory Phonics Screening Check;
• Year 2: optional national curriculum tests and teacher assessment, where used by the school;
• Year 4: the statutory Multiplication Tables Check, which provides wider information about mathematical fluency but is not a reading assessment;
• Year 6: statutory KS2 National Curriculum Tests, including English reading and grammar, punctuation and spelling, alongside teacher assessment of writing.

These assessments are checkpoints, not destinations. We use them alongside the rich assessment evidence gathered by teachers throughout children’s time at Abingdon.

Writing: Giving Children Something to Say

We believe that strong writing begins with rich experiences, strong vocabulary and something worth communicating.

Our writing curriculum therefore goes beyond writing lessons. Children encounter stories, drama, discussion, trips, visitors, real-life experiences and carefully selected texts that give them ideas, vocabulary and perspectives to draw upon.

Oracy sits at the heart of this work. Children learn to explain, question, justify, challenge, rehearse and articulate their thinking before translating their ideas into writing.

Every writing opportunity has a clear purpose and audience. Children write to inform, entertain, persuade, explain, describe and communicate. Carefully planned experiences and impact events give writing authenticity, while opportunities to share work with parents and the wider school community help children understand that their writing has value.

We explicitly teach the knowledge, vocabulary, grammar, spelling and composition skills children need to become successful writers, while providing the scaffolding and adaptations required for every child to participate.

English and the Abingdon ARCH

English provides countless opportunities for children to live our Abingdon ARCH.

Aspirations – finding their voice and discovering the power of language.
Resilience – persevering with challenging texts, unfamiliar vocabulary and complex writing.
Harmony – listening to different perspectives and developing empathy through literature.
Commitment – reading regularly, practising skills and taking pride in becoming a better communicator.

Our ultimate ambition is not simply that children can pass a reading test or produce a piece of writing.

It is that they become confident readers, thoughtful writers and articulate communicators who can participate fully in society.

Because when children can read, understand, question, communicate and express themselves, they are better equipped to belong, flourish, thrive and achieve.

English Progression Document

Abingdon Reading Spine

Please find the link to the English programme of study https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335186/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_English_220714.pdf