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English

The National Curriculum for English divides the work into these areas:

  • Spoken Language

  • Reading

  • Writing

  • Spelling, vocabulary, grammar & punctuation

The aims of the curriculum are to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. 

Our approach to reading

At Gorefield Primary Academy, we highly value reading as a key life skill. Therefore, teaching a child to read with confidence is vital, and we are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers. We believe reading is essential for academic success. We also aim to promote reading for pleasure and hope to instil this love of reading in all children through the culture of our school. 

Guided reading:

Children take part in guided reading sessions and in EYFS and KS1, this follows the Little Wandle 3-reading cycle, with each book being read three times across a week:

1️⃣ First read- decoding

  • Focus: sounding out words using phonic knowledge
  • Teacher supports blending and tricky words
  • Goal: accuracy
  • Focus: fluency, phrasing, expression
  • Children re-read the same book
  • Teacher models reading.

2️⃣ Second read – Prosody (reading with expression)

  • Focus: fluency, phrasing, expression
  • Children re-read the same book
  • Teacher models reading like a story teller.

3️⃣ Third read- Comprehension

  • Focus: understanding the text
  • Discussion, questions, and vocabulary work
  • Children should now read more confidently and refer 

In year 2 the children also have an additional comprehension guided reading lesson that builds on the children's phonics knowledge. 

By Year 2, most children are moving from learning to read → reading to understand. Lessons usually target:

  • Retrieval – finding answers directly in the text
  • Inference – reading between the lines
  • Vocabulary – understanding new words in context
  • Sequencing – retelling events in order
  • Prediction – what might happen next
  • Explanation – why things happen

In KS2 the children participate in guided reading every day, following the CUSP Curriculum.

  • Each classroom has a range of high-quality texts, both fiction and non-fiction, linked to our topics. All classrooms have an inviting mini-library that allows children to read comfortably throughout the day.

  • Texts for English are carefully chosen to ensure children are engaged and that there is progression and challenge across the school.

  • Children are read to every day for 15 minutes by their class teacher. This is a book recommended by the teacher or chosen by the children. Book reviews and teacher-recommended reads are then displayed around school.

  • In Reception and Year 1, children read fully decodable books that match their phonics knowledge. Children are then moved on to our Accelerated Reader scheme, which helps to develop fluency and comprehension skills from year 2. ‘Free readers’ are also available for older children to choose from our class libraries.

Mrs Wordsmith

In a bid to improve the language and vocabulary development of our children, we teach new vocabulary through Mrs Wordsmith. We use this to support accelerated progress in reading and writing for KS1 and KS2 pupils, by extending their vocabulary.  All children are exposed to a word a week and have access to dictionaries to expand their vocabulary further.  The approach used is a simple and intuitive way to learn new words which will foster word consciousness and a lifelong love of words.

Our approach to writing

At Gorefield Primary Academy, Literacy Tree is used as the core approach for teaching writing from Year 2 to Year 6. The programme provides a literature-rich, carefully sequenced curriculum that develops pupils’ skills in reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary concurrently. Literacy Tree ensures writing is purposeful, engaging and progressive, supporting pupils to write confidently for a range of audiences and purposes.

Literacy Tree provides a structured and progressive writing curriculum based on high-quality texts. At Gorefield Primary Academy, it ensures consistency, depth and ambition in the teaching of writing. Units are designed to develop language, comprehension and composition skills while meeting the requirements of the National Curriculum.

Click here for the Literacy Tree Provider Statement

Writing Policy

Writing is taught through text-led Literacy Tree units. Pupils engage deeply with high-quality literature and develop their writing through discussion, sentence-level work, planning, drafting, editing and publishing. Grammar and punctuation are taught in context to support meaningful application.

To read our writing policy please click here

Text Rationales (Years 2–6)

Texts are carefully selected to be age-appropriate, diverse and engaging. They increase in complexity across year groups and support the development of narrative, non-fiction and poetic writing. Text choices promote rich vocabulary, strong comprehension and authorial voice.

Please click the links below to view links to Litercay Text Rationales for Year 2 - 6

Year 2

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/CC7099348B038AF0DDEE1F816FE3DC0E.pdf

Year 3

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/00F42FCE199E1050E76B6DFF96E14DC8.pdf

Year 4

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/E4145F92FD8DCE38B4B18E2F689E219A.pdf

Year 5

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/22EA3CF76F0DDE128C94C1B69AD49BAB.pdf

Year 6

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/21AFE6FEC21A68C356DE9B64CC041BF7.pdf

Literacy Pedagogy

The Literacy Tree pedagogy at Gorefield is underpinned by talk for writing, reading as a writer, explicit teaching and gradual release of responsibility. Pupils are supported through modelling and scaffolding to become increasingly independent writers.

Please click the link below to view the Literacy Tree Pedagogy that underpins our writing curriculum.

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/F53A35D2CE04D20AAAD878F196C13926.pdf

 

Skills and Purpose (Years 2–6)

Across Years 2 to 6, pupils write for a range of audiences and purposes, developing accuracy in spelling, handwriting, grammar and punctuation. They learn to organise writing effectively, edit critically and improve their work independently.

Please click the links below to view the Skills and Purpose documents for each year group (Year 2-6)

Year 2

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/63E4BFAB3F74EC4A93ACE119EA5E72E9.pdf

Year 3

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/EA3A26544AC23DB6C737513B9A06D243.pdf

Year 4

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/FE8B4C2FD4523B28D37573F4A595F04C.pdf

Year 5

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/BD05692F4012EECC094D4EB1B72F59E5.pdf

Year 6 

/_site/data/files/migrated/english/39756F4F6F86D9ABB6B892874051A621.pdf

 

Our approach to phonics teaching

The Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised approach to phonics is a systematic, synthetic phonics programme taught in Reception and Year 1.

Here’s how it works in a clear, practical way:

What “systematic synthetic phonics” means

  • Systematic: sounds are taught in a clear, planned order
  • Synthetic: children learn to blend sounds (phonemes) to read words and segment them to spell

 Daily phonics lessons 

Phonics is taught every day in short, fast-paced lessons (around 20–30 minutes).

A typical session includes:

Review

  • Go over previously taught sounds
  • Quick-fire flashcards or reading

Teach

  • Introduce a new sound (grapheme-phoneme correspondence)
  • e.g. “ai” as in rain

Practise

  • Read and spell words with the new sound
  • Oral blending and segmenting

Apply

  • Read a sentence or short text using the new learning

Keep-up intervention

  • Immediate, short, daily support
  • Targets children who didn’t fully grasp the day’s learning
  • 5–10 minute sessions
  • Usually 1:1 or small group
  • Tightly focused on specific difficulties
  • Prevents children from falling behind
  • Keeps children in line with the whole class programme

Catch up intervention

  • Targeted support for children who have fallen behind
  • Often used in Year 2 or beyond
  • Additional phonics sessions outside English lessons
  • Targeted support for children who have gaps from previous phases

At the end of Year 1, children will take the national Phonic Screening Test which assesses children’s phonic knowledge. They are required to read real and alien words, applying the phonic skills they have learnt.

 

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