Holly Spring Primary School English

"Children who write powerfully are drawing on their reading, talking, thinking and experiences. Writers are thieves – they plunder their reading but also their lives" - Pie Corbett​

Reading and Writing Teaching and Learning​

Our reading curriculum strives to foster a lifelong love of reading.  We cultivate the behaviours that the children need to be discerning readers as they read frequently and widely using self-regulation strategies and discuss what they read. When our children leave Holly Spring Primary, we expect them to be avid readers, children who read fluently and widely and are able to express preferences and opinions about the texts that they read. We want them to read for pleasure, having had access to a wide range of text types, genres and authors in order for them to make informed opinions about their favourites. Reading is at the very heart of our curriculum and our intention is that our children are exposed to a wide variety of reading opportunities which develop fluent, enthusiastic and critical readers. ​

At Holly Spring Primary School, we value writing as a fundamental life skill, one which impacts on all learning. We will provide a wealth of opportunities for children to write with confidence and accuracy for a variety of purposes and audiences whilst developing their own individual flair. Our children will be able to write with grammatical accuracy and be able to apply spelling patterns correctly using a neat handwriting style. We are dedicated to providing an exciting and engaging curriculum which inspires children to foster a passion for writing and provides them with the essential knowledge needed to become skilled writers. We aim to expose our children to a wide range of vocabulary so that they able to decipher new words and then use them when speaking both informally and formally. ​

We also aim for our children to apply all of these English skills to all areas of the curriculum. ​​

The Intent of the Teaching and Learning of the English Curriculum is underpinned by​

• High Expectations - All children are expected to succeed and make progress from their starting points.​
• Modelling - Teachers teach the skills needed to succeed in English providing examples of good practice and having high expectations. ​
• Fluency - Children apply English skills with ease throughout all of the curriculum. ​
• Vocabulary - Ambitious vocab is taught explicitly and is expected to be applied in everyday situations.​

At Holly Spring our Intent is:

• ​All children are able to read, write, spell and speak at age-appropriate levels and following age-related expectations ​
• All children are exposed to a variety of literature, genres and authors during reading and writing experiences​
• All children to write for a variety of purposes and audiences; clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style as required ​
• All children read and write daily ​
• All children to be confident when writing and read easily, fluently and with good understanding ​
• All children to develop an understanding of grammar and punctuation strategies and to acquire a wide vocabulary, using these appropriately ​
• All children develop a love of reading for pleasure, as well as for information, by reading widely and often in all areas of the curriculum ​
• All children acquire strategies to enable them to become independent learners in English (spelling rules and patterns and how to tackle unfamiliar words when reading) ​
• All children to enter into discussions and to present their ideas to each other by talking, being able to elaborate and explain themselves clearly, make presentations and participate in debates ​
• All children to take pride in their writing