English
The English curriculum is easiest to think of as speaking and listening, reading and writing.
Reading
We believe that reading is the gateway to curiosity, confidence, and lifelong learning. Our vision is to nurture fluent, thoughtful readers who approach texts with wonder and understanding, empowered to explore the world through words. We are committed to creating a rich reading culture where every child feels seen, supported, and challenged; where books reflect diverse experiences and open doors to new ideas. Through skilled teaching, purposeful practice, and joyful engagement with stories and information, we inspire our pupils to become independent readers who read not only to learn — but to imagine, to connect, and to thrive. The journey for our children starts right at the very beginning, from Nursery, where through the teaching of the Little Wandle phonics programme, our children take their first steps in exploring the relationship between letters and their corresponding sounds.
Reading fluently enables comprehension and deeper thinking.
Fluency is the bridge between decoding words and understanding them — the point where reading moves from effort to thinking. At Ealdham Primary School we want to develop confident, expressive readers who read with accuracy, pace, and intonation, enabling them to make meaning from what they read. During dedicated sessions, we will explicitly teach fluency through, modelling, repeated practice, and thoughtful discussion, equipping our children with the skills to read texts smoothly and thoughtfully, freeing them to focus on ideas, connections, and interpretations. We nurture a classroom culture where fluent reading opens doors to curiosity, critical thinking, and rich comprehension — empowering every learner to explore texts in depth, question confidently, and understand the world around them more fully.
Reading for pleasure is central to developing lifelong readers.
Reading for pleasure nurtures identity, enjoyment, and reading stamina beyond what is required. The Reading Framework (DfE, July 2023) states that through the stories and poems encountered, and the discussion around them, “pupils have a chance to experience the excitement, wonder and fascination that can come from reading.”
We believe that developing Reading for Pleasure is essential to raising attainment, broadening horizons, and supporting children’s wellbeing. We want every child to see themselves as a reader — one who chooses to read, talks about books with others, and finds joy in stories, knowledge, and discovery.
We aim to encourage this by creating a rich reading environment that bring books to life: reading aloud daily with enthusiasm and purpose, creating reading areas that celebrate books, offering time for children to read books they enjoy, and ensuring our texts reflect the diversity of our world and the uniqueness of each child. Through strong relationships, informed book-knowledge, and modelling our own love of reading, we hope to build a community of readers who connect, imagine, empathise, and think deeply.
All pupils deserve to ‘keep up’ and to catch up where needed.
At Ealdham Primary, we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to become a confident, fluent reader. We are committed to providing timely, targeted support that enables children to keep up rather than catch up. Where additional help is needed, we respond swiftly, with compassion, expertise, and high expectations.. The Reading Framework (DfE, July 2023) emphasises that “teachers should aim for all pupils to keep up from the start of phonics” and that older pupils who still need support with fluency should receive a “considerable and continuing investment of time … extra time in a small group every day to develop their fluency.” We will monitor progress, intervene early, and ensure that no child is left behind in the journey to fluent reading. Our approach ensures that reading intervention is rigorous, consistent, and rooted in the high-quality Little Wandle programme. We use precise assessment to identify what each child needs, and we provide, structured practice that builds success step by step. We nurture learners through positive relationships, celebrating effort and progress, and empowering children to believe in themselves as readers.
Fluent, pleasurable reading lays the foundation for future success.
At Ealdham Primary School, we believe that fluent pleasurable reading is transformative. When pupils read fluently and widely, they build vocabulary, background knowledge and comprehension skills that are essential across the curriculum. As The Reading Framework (DfE, July 2023) highlights, “most of [a skilled reader’s] knowledge … comes from reading” and those who read a lot are more proficient readers. Fluent reading frees the mind to think, imagine, question, and connect — turning the act of decoding into the joy of understanding. We want our children to read with with ease, expression, and enjoyment; who choose to read because it matters to them.
In other words, fluency plus enjoyment unlocks access to all subjects and opens doors to lifelong learning, critical thinking, and future opportunity. We want every child to leave our school not only able to read, but wanting to read — empowered as lifelong readers who turn to books for pleasure, learning, comfort, and growth.
Writing
At Ealdham Primary, we believe that writing is a powerful act of self-expression, communication, and creativity. We are committed to enabling every child to develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence to write with purpose, precision, and personal voice.
Our aim is for every child to leave us as a confident, capable, and thoughtful writer — one who can express their ideas clearly, communicate with others, and shape their world through words. Through the guidance of the Writing Framework (DfE, July 2025), we aim to build strong foundations in transcription (handwriting and spelling), sentence construction, and composition, so that technical skills become automatic, freeing pupils to think creatively, organise their ideas, and express themselves clearly.
We place spoken language and oral rehearsal at the heart of our approach: children will talk through their ideas, hear models, rehearse sentences before writing, and learn to compose both aloud and in written form. We commit to delivering high-quality, explicit teaching of handwriting, spelling and grammar from Reception through to the end of Key Stage 2 — ensuring that pupils are ready to write at length only when they are confident and have the skills to do so.
As our children move further up the school, our approach builds writers step by step through:
- Knowledge of language and grammar that empowers clarity and control
- Fluency in transcription so ideas can flow freely
- A strong writer’s voice rooted in experience, imagination, and reflection
Writing in our school is not just an academic requirement but is also a means of discovering identity, reflecting on the world, and sharing ideas. We will cultivate a writing culture in which every child sees themselves as a writer: tasks will be meaningful, writing opportunities will be frequent (across the curriculum), and pupils will be supported to revise, edit, and improve. We utilise high quality and engaging texts from a range of genres to engage and stimulate creative thinking. Through strong leadership, well-sequenced curriculum design, and skilled, reflective teaching, we aim for all pupils — including those with additional needs — to leave primary school equipped with a strong writing voice, ready for secondary education and beyond.
