English at Airy Hill Primary School
We are very proud of our challenging and engaging English Curriculum that we offer pupils at Airy Hill. English is at the heart of everything we teach. We believe pupils should have access to high-quality texts in order to become life-long readers. – we learn to read so that we can read to learn!
We teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions with others. We believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in Nursery/Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At school, we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.
Our English Team
Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have an expert English team. This consists of a phonics leader, who drives the early reading programme in school; an English Lead, who drives the reading and writing across school; and Reading Role models who encourage a love for reading. The team are highly skilled at teaching phonics and English, and they monitor and support our teachers and phonics team, so everyone provides high-quality teaching with fidelity and consistency.
Find more information on our reading curriculum here – please click to view information about Reading
Find more information on our writing curriculum here – please click to view information about SPaG