“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr Seuss

‘The reading and writing of Standard English, alongside proficient language development, is the key to unlocking the rest of the academic curriculum. Pupils who struggle to read struggle in all subjects and the wonders of a knowledge-rich curriculum passes them by unread.’ (The reading framework, 2021).

At Forest Park, the teaching of English is intended to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of spoken and written language, and by developing a love of literature through widespread reading for pleasure. A child’s ability to communicate and listen enables them to develop their identity, build relationships with others and opens up their capacity to learn. For this reason, we recognise the importance of developing these skills right from the start; placing a heavy emphasis on communication and language within our Early Years Foundation Stage.

We endeavour to use books, at the centre of our writing units, that are written by authors from a diverse range of backgrounds that reflect and represent the rich cultural diversity of our school community. These books are used alongside other high quality, vocabulary rich reading materials to promote discussion and develop oracy skills. During the teaching of whole class guided reading and in other areas of the curriculum, we focus on developing our children to be fluent readers with good understanding. We teach the comprehension aspect of reading through the key areas of vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, summarise and sequence.

Additionally, we aim to create well-rounded writers who can transfer their skills for a wide range of audiences and purposes. We teach a progressive range of text types covering the areas of entertain, inform, persuade, discuss, instruct and explain through our text-based units. Writing opportunities are exploited across the curriculum and are expected to be of an equally high standard. We use trips, visitors, drama, poetry and practical activities to the fullest to provide our children with real-life experience to enrich their writing and create imaginative and thoughtful writers.