English at Forres Primary Academy

Developing confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers

At Forres Primary Academy, we believe that learning to read is one of the most important things a child will learn. We want every child to become a confident, fluent reader who develops a lifelong love of books and reading.

We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme to provide a consistent, systematic approach to phonics and early reading. The programme is designed to teach the alphabetic code and develop children's ability to decode words, while providing opportunities to develop reading fluency, vocabulary and a love of reading.

Our Phonics Approach

Pupils in Reception and Year 1 receive daily, systematic phonics teaching. Lessons follow a carefully sequenced progression, enabling children to learn new grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs), blend sounds to read words and apply their growing phonics knowledge.Pupil's progress is regularly assessed so that we can identify any gaps in learning and provide targeted support. Where children need additional practice, we provide daily Keep-up support to help them remain on track with the programme.

Our approach ensures that phonics is not simply about learning sounds; children are taught how to apply their phonics knowledge to reading.

Reading Practice

Alongside daily phonics lessons, pupils have regular reading practice sessions using books that are carefully matched to their stage of phonics development.The Little Wandle approach uses repeated reading to support pupils to develop decoding, fluency, expression and comprehension. Teachers model reading and provide opportunities for pupils to practise reading familiar texts with increasing confidence.

Our aim is for pupils to experience success when reading, helping them to develop confidence and a positive attitude towards books.

Phonics Screening Check

In Year 1, pupils take part in the statutory Phonics Screening Check. This assesses pupil's ability to apply their phonic knowledge when reading words.The screening check is only one part of pupil's reading development. Little Wandle's programme continues beyond the knowledge required for the check, with the aim of developing secure decoding, word reading and fluency. Pupils who require further support continue to receive appropriate phonics teaching and intervention.

Reading for Pleasure

Phonics provides pupils with the tools to decode words, but we know that reading is about so much more. We want our pupils to develop a genuine love of books and reading. Pupils enjoy stories, poems and high-quality texts and have opportunities to explore a wide range of authors, genres and subjects.

Our adults model a love of reading by sharing books and reading aloud to pupils regularly. We believe that listening to stories helps pupils develop vocabulary, imagination, background knowledge and a lifelong enjoyment of reading.

Supporting Reading at Home

Parents and carers play an important role in helping children become successful readers.

We encourage families to:

Read regularly with your child.
Listen to your child read their school reading book.
Encourage your child to sound out unfamiliar words rather than guessing.
Talk about the pictures, characters and events in the book.
Ask questions about what your child has read.
Read stories and books aloud to your child.
Visit your local library and share a wide range of books together.

Little Wandle provides a range of videos, guidance and resources for parents to support phonics and reading at home.

Little Wandle – Parent Resources

Developing Reading

We recognise that successful reading involves more than phonics. As children progress through the school, we explicitly teach the skills needed to become confident and thoughtful readers. Through a whole-class approach, children develop their ability to retrieve information, make inferences, explain vocabulary, make predictions, summarise and discuss what they have read.

We place a strong emphasis on reading fluency, comprehension and a love of reading. Children have regular opportunities to access books, discuss texts with their peers and adults, and read independently. We value the importance of reading for pleasure and provide opportunities for children to explore a wide range of authors, genres and texts.

Reading Aloud

At Forres, we recognise the importance of modelling fluent and expressive reading. Children are read to by an adult every day, giving them opportunities to hear rich language, develop their vocabulary, listen to high-quality texts and experience the enjoyment and imagination that books can bring.

Writing

Alongside our reading curriculum, we follow the HfL Essential Writing programme from Reception to Year 6. This is a carefully sequenced, text-based approach which immerses children in high-quality texts and provides meaningful opportunities to develop their writing.

Pupils explore a range of texts, authors and genres and are encouraged to write for a clear purpose and audience. Through the programme, pupils develop their vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and composition skills while learning to craft their writing effectively. We want pupils to become confident and enthusiastic writers who can communicate their ideas, thoughts and experiences across a range of contexts.

The programme is built around the following core principles:

Writing for real purposes and audiences
(e.g. writing to inform, persuade, entertain—not just “because the teacher said so”)
Progressive learning
Skills (grammar, vocabulary, structure) are taught step-by-step and revisited over time
Using high-quality books
Children learn from real literature and imitate good writing techniques
Focus on the craft of writing
It teaches how writing works—not just what to write

Spelling

Spelling is an important part of our English curriculum. Children receive discrete weekly spelling teaching, where they develop their understanding of spelling patterns, rules and strategies. They are then encouraged to apply their spelling knowledge consistently in their everyday writing.

Handwriting

We follow a progressive handwriting approach, supported by our school handwriting policy and Letter-Join. Children develop their handwriting skills progressively, building towards fluent, legible and increasingly joined handwriting.Pupils are expected to apply their handwriting skills consistently across their English work and throughout the wider curriculum.

Our Aim

Through our English curriculum, we aim to develop children who:

Read fluently and with understanding
Read widely and develop a love of books
Write confidently for different purposes and audiences
Use ambitious vocabulary
Discuss and explain their ideas
Take pride in the presentation of their work
Become independent and resilient learners

At Forres Primary Academy, we want every child to develop a lifelong love of reading and the confidence to express themselves through writing

How do we know our pupils are succeeding?

Our goal by the end of pupils' time at Forres Primary Academy is to be literate, reading with fluency and expression, able to write for a range of purposes and audiences and ensure that all these skills are transferable into their next phase of education. We also aim to instil a love of reading and writing in all pupils throughout their time at Forres Primary Academy.