English Curriculum 

Reading 

At Nelson, our aim is that children love reading and are equipped with the skills they need to become efficient readers.  We recognise the importance of reading and aim for all of our children to become confident independent readers with an excellent understanding of what they read.  We believe that reading ‘opens the door’ to learning and children who read a lot will go on to become lifelong learners.

The mechanics of learning to read – phonics – and reading comprehension is taught through our systematic phonics programme Read, Write, Inc – see Read, Write Inc information page and parent support packs. Children begin this scheme in foundation stage and progress throughout Key Stage 1. Children who find reading more challenging continue to have support in small groups or on an individual basis.

At Nelson, children in all year groups have daily book talk, ‘Hooked on Books’ sessions where we explore fiction, non-fiction and poetry books though different ‘lenses’ of a reading rainbow. Encouraging children to think and talk about their understanding of what they have read. See hooked on books information.

During Mantle of the Expert sessions, children learn to understand, analyse and thoughtfully respond to a wide range of texts. Carefully selected texts that link to the term’s ‘topic’ help to build the children’s experience of quality text though out the school.

At Nelson, we all know that reading is important and that parents and carers have a vital role to play in helping children to enjoy and gain success in reading. Reading and sharing stories at home is one of the most important ways that you can help your child to succeed. By taking time to hear your children read and talk about their books with them, you are showing them that reading is both important and enjoyable. Children continue to take books home to support them both in learning to read and reading for pleasure.

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Writing 

Writing is both essential to thinking and learning and enjoyable in its own right. As children begin to learn the main conventions of written English they learn how it can be used to communicate meaning in different ways.

Teaching and Learning

It is important that children learn to write independently from an early age. At Nelson Infant School, children are treated as writers and from the moment they make marks and attach meaning to them.

During Reception the daily teaching of phonics is used systematically to support writing by following the Read, Write Inc programme. Letter formation is introduced – see Read, Write, Inc handwriting sequences. Daily phonics (through Read, Write, Inc) continues in Key Stage 1 with an additional focus on developing spelling strategies and fluent handwriting to build up accuracy and speed.

Organisation of teaching

Writing is an integral part of most of our curriculum. We strive for children to see the power of writing for communicating and for purpose. It is an integral part of our Mantle of the Expert learning – children experience a range of genres throughout KS1. The process of writing is taught during skills sessions within the curriculum to structure content and progression. See writing for purpose document.

Year 1 And 2 Curriculum Overview

Letter Formation Chart

RWI Booklet 1 Parents

Rwi Booklet 2 Parents