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English
BackEnglish Curriculum Intent
At Pickhurst Infant Academy, our English Curriculum is designed to foster a lifelong love of reading, a passion for vocabulary and language, and the ability to communicate thoughts and ideas effectively through speaking and writing. We aim to equip every child with the foundational skills and confidence needed to thrive in their educational journey and beyond.
Our curriculum is enriched with engaging hooks, immersive experiences, and high-quality texts, ensuring lessons are both captivating and meaningful. It is thoughtfully structured to build on prior learning, revisiting key skills to secure deep understanding and mastery. Teachers cultivate curiosity and excitement, leaving children eager for the next step in their learning journey.
We place a strong emphasis on all aspects of English, recognising that proficiency in language is the cornerstone of creative and imaginative communication. Through a progressive and cumulative approach, we ensure the consistent development of knowledge and skills across reading, writing, and speaking.
We aim:
- To ensure every child becomes a confident reader, writer and speaker by the time they leave our school.
- To instill in every child a love of language, reading, writing, and high-quality literature.
- To deliver a progressive and cohesive English Curriculum that nurtures the acquisition and application of essential skills and knowledge.
Language and Vocabulary Development
Starting in Reception, we endeavour to provide our pupils with a 'language rich' environment and a range of opportunities to develop oracy skills. We have high expectations that our students are able to speak confidently in full, grammatically correct sentences. Across our curriculum, the children explore new and challenging vocabulary to ensure that they broaden their understanding of tier 2 and tier 3 words. Teachers carefully plan which new words they will be exploring, ensuring consistency across the year group. These new words are explored in context to ensure that the children have sound understanding of how to use them on a daily basis. Ambitious language is displayed on classroom working walls and in the hall. Frequently, a new word is shared and explained in assembly in order to promote and encourage language curiosity. All the children are active Word Collectors and are encouraged and rewarded for finding new words in and out of school.
To promote effective communication, teachers introduce the children to a range of Kagan collaborative language structures. These are used frequently throughout the curriculum in order to maximise learning time and to embed the need to take turns and to listen to each other effectively.
As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. They are confident exploring and taking risks in their reading and writing, and love to discuss and share their ideas in an eloquent manner. Our attainment at the end of EYFS and KS1 is consistently above Bromley’s and the national average.
Spoken Language
Language and Vocabulary Development
Starting in Reception, we endeavour to ensure we provide our pupils with a 'language rich' environment and a range of opportunities. All staff have high expectations of all the children to be able to speak in full sentences, which are grammatically correct. Within our classrooms, we explore ambitious vocabulary across the curriculum to ensure we acquire an understanding of tier 2 and tier 3 vocabularies. Teachers carefully plan which new words they will be exploring, ensuring consistency across the year group. These new words are explored in context, to ensure that the children a have sound understanding of how to use them on a daily basis. Ambitious language is displayed on classroom working walls and in our main hall. Frequently, a new word is shared and explained in assembly in order to promote and encourage language curiosity. All the children are active Word Collectors and are encouraged and rewarded for finding new words in and out of school.
Reading
Reading Intent
Our reading intent is linked to our overarching curriculum intent to ‘develop our children as confident, independent and thoughtful learners who communicate effectively and who show a lifelong love of learning and a thirst for creativity’ At Pickhurst Infant Academy, we believe that reading is the key to unlocking a world of learning and opportunities. Our reading curriculum is designed to ensure that every child develops the skills and confidence to become a fluent, competent, and enthusiastic reader. Reading is at the heart of our curriculum, underpinning all areas of learning and inspiring a lifelong love of books and storytelling.
We aim to create a rich and stimulating environment where children are immersed in high-quality literature from a wide range of genres, cultures, and traditions. Through carefully chosen texts and engaging teaching strategies, we provide children with the tools to decode, comprehend, and interpret written language, equipping them with the ability to read for both purpose and pleasure.
Our approach emphasises the systematic teaching of phonics as the foundation for early reading skills, ensuring every child is supported to achieve fluency. We use the Little Wandle phonics scheme and children start learning phonics from their very first week at school. Alongside this, we foster a love of reading by sharing captivating stories, poems, and non-fiction that spark imagination, curiosity, and enjoyment. We encourage children to explore books independently and through shared experiences, nurturing their confidence and inspiring them to see themselves as readers.
We recognise that reading unlocks access to all areas of the curriculum, empowering children to acquire knowledge, think critically, and develop a broader understanding of the world. Our reading curriculum also prioritizes fostering a deep connection with texts, encouraging children to empathise with characters, make links, explore different perspectives, as well as developing their vocabulary and language skills.
By placing reading at the heart of our school, we aim to cultivate a community of readers who are confident, competent, and curious learners, ready to embrace the endless possibilities that reading brings to their lives.
Guided Reading Program
At Pickhurst Infant Academy, reading is an integral part of our curriculum, taking place three times a week in guided reading groups led by a teacher or teaching assistant. For children who require additional support, one-on-one sessions with a teacher ensure their individual needs are met. During these sessions, children work with fully decodable books, allowing them to develop key skills such as decoding, prosody, and comprehension.
Every class enjoys a daily high-quality story time, where teachers model fluent and expressive reading. This not only promotes enjoyment but also encourages discussions about story content, fostering a deeper appreciation for literature. We closely monitor children’s reading progress at home and actively encourage parents to engage with us, forming a strong partnership to support their child's development.
Reading for Pleasure
We believe fostering a love of reading is essential for every child. Reading is celebrated and promoted throughout our school, with vibrant displays highlighting children’s literature and celebrating both student and staff reading habits. Each day, teachers read high-quality texts to their classes, giving children opportunities to hear fluent reading and to discuss stories.
Children have access to inspiring and well-stocked class libraries, offering a wide variety of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, magazines, and graphic novels. They are encouraged to choose books they enjoy and to engage in book discussions with peers and teachers. During warmer months, reading often moves outdoors, with stories shared on the grass, in the Forest School reading area, or even with our mentor dogs.
Engaging Parents and the Community
Parents and carers are integral to our reading culture. We host a Reading Workshop to share research and strategies for supporting phonics and reading at home. Additionally, we provide a list of recommended books and invite parents to volunteer for afternoon reading sessions. On the last Friday of each half term, we open classroom doors for family members to join and read with the children, modeling the joy of shared reading.
Enrichment Activities
To foster a lifelong love of reading, we offer a variety of engaging events throughout the year, including assemblies, competitions, author and poet visits, World Book Day celebrations, Book Fairs, and sponsored reading challenges. Children are also encouraged to visit the local library and participate in the Summer Reading Challenge.
Every week, children visit our community-created Little Oaks Library to explore stories and engage in free-choice reading. These experiences enrich their understanding of the written word and inspire a genuine enthusiasm for books.
Phonics-and-Early-Reading-Powerpoint.pptxEverybody-read-leaflet-for-parents.pdf
Throughout the school year, the importance of reading is enhanced through assemblies, competitions, World Book Day, author or poet visits, Book Fairs and sponsored reading events to further enrich our English curriculum.
Impact
As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. They are confident to take risks in their reading and writing, and love to discuss and share their ideas in an eloquent manner. Our attainment at the end of EYFS and KS1 is above that of both Bromley’s and the national average.
reading-policy-2021-22-final.docx
reading-and-phonics-guide-for-parents-and-carers.pdf
Reading-helpers-powerpoint.pdf
recommended-reading-lists-reception.pdf
Phonics
Phonics
We use a systematic approach to teaching of phonics, ensuring every child is supported to achieve fluency. We use the Little Wandle phonics scheme and children start learning phonics from their very first week at school.
In Reception and Year 1, children use books from the Little Wandle for Letters and Sounds scheme, carefully matched to their phonics level. As they progress to Year 2, they continue with Little Wandle until they complete Phase 5, after which they transition to Big Cat Collins books. These texts emphasise comprehension and prosody, ensuring children develop the diverse skills required to become confident, well-rounded readers.
Children who need additional support are targeted for 1:1 and small group intervention.
