English

At St Nicholas, we aim for every child to: -

develop a passion for English and to become better speakers, listeners, readers, writers and thinkers
connect ideas and express themselves through exposure to language, story and text
have the skills and confidence to read and write across genres using a wide range of vocabulary
apply grammar, punctuation and spelling skills appropriately

Spoken Language (Oracy)

Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language and listening. The Voice 21 project has supported our school to build speaking and listening into the curriculum and teaching and learning.

Aims:

Spoken language (oracy) is used to enhance learning and develop understanding
Staff are facilitators of learning and actively encourage children to explore and participate
Spoken language (oracy) is used to develop the confidence and well being of children

Teaching and Learning:

At St Nicholas, Spoken Language is prioritised as it is a powerful tool for learning; by teaching students to become more effective speakers and listeners, we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them. Spoken Language also underpins the development of reading and writing and therefore, it is embedded into all areas of the curriculum where children can learn to talk and through talk. Opportunities for oracy are regular, purposeful and thoughtfully planned.

Each class creates a set of discussion guidelines at the start of the academic year to display in the classroom and refer to during all talk activities. This then sets high expectations for spoken language within the classroom.

Within classrooms, teachers support spoken language by: -

Using sentence stems to encourage children to reply and speak in full sentences
Model higher level vocabulary and have discussions around subject specific vocabulary
Using ABC (agree, build on, challenge) as a tool to share, answer and debate constructively
Probing children to develop ideas further
No hands up
Encouraging all children to participate to value every voice
Planning for partner talk, trios, group work, debates, performances, drama activities etc.
Planning for walk thrus e.g. quiz-quiz-trade, follow me cards.
Teaching oracy skills explicitly (physical, linguistic, cognitive and social and emotional). See Oracy Framework below for more detail.

oracy framework.pdf

Writing

At St Nicholas we aim for all children to: -

develop an understanding and be able to write for a range of audience and purposes.
be immersed in a range of writing genres and styles across the curriculum.
be confident independent writers, who can build upon skills throughout their Primary Education and beyond.
be taught the key principles of writing to further develop their skills.
have the ability to carefully select vocabulary and to think about what the desired impact on the reader is.
develop cohesion and accuracy throughout their writing.
Be able to re-read and make edits to their work and understand that writing is a process of drafting, editing and publishing.

Teaching and Learning:

Reception

In Reception, children are introduced to writing through Drawing Club, which supports the development of early fine motor control and emergent writing skills through high-quality, text-led experiences. Carefully selected stories stimulate imagination, develop vocabulary and promote purposeful talk, enabling children to communicate their ideas through drawing and early writing, and to apply the phonics they know to write phonetically plausible words and phrases linked to their drawings.

Years 1-6

In Years 1–6, our writing curriculum is guided by Literacy Tree, a comprehensive, thematic approach to primary English that places children’s literature at its heart. High-quality texts are used to ensure clear progression in writing through immersion in rich, diverse, and ambitious texts, supporting children to develop strong writing skills and preparing them effectively for the next stage of their learning.

Through the Teach Through a Text approach, children become critical readers and develop a clear understanding of audience and purpose in their writing, engaging with a wide range of significant authors and diverse texts, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The Literacy Tree curriculum ensures full coverage of National Curriculum expectations in writing composition, reading comprehension, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and spelling. Each unit culminates in purposeful written outcomes, allowing children to apply their learning meaningfully.

At St Nicholas, texts from Literacy Tree have been carefully mapped across all year groups to ensure clear progression and comprehensive coverage of the National Curriculum.

Reading

Aims

At St Nicholas, we aim to:

Place reading at the heart of the curriculum from Reception through to Year 6, recognising it as fundamental to every child’s educational development
Provide high-quality reading instruction that enables children to understand and appreciate the world around them
Broaden children’s experiences by exposing them to a wide range of texts, cultures and perspectives beyond their own
Develop rich vocabulary and language skills so that children can express themselves confidently and effectively
Support children’s emotional intelligence and mental wellbeing through meaningful engagement with texts
Ensure all pupils leave St Nicholas as confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers with a lifelong love of books

Promote reading across the wider curriculum, making it a meaningful and integral part of all learning

Teaching and Learning

At St Nicholas, we are committed to developing a genuine love of reading in all our children through exposure to a wide range of high-quality texts, genres and text types. We believe that sharing texts as a class plays a vital role in nurturing children’s enjoyment of reading and deepening their understanding. Carefully chosen, high-quality books create a language-rich learning environment, encouraging pupils to discuss, explore and critique authors’ use of language and literary techniques.

Our reading curriculum is delivered through a progressive, multi-layered approach:

In the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, our children are immersed in Little Wandle Letters and Sounds, which is a systematic synthetic phonics approach.
In Year 2, reading comprehension using the KSI Reading VIPERS is introduced.
In Years 3-6, reading and reading comprehension is further developed through using the KS2 Reading VIPERS.

The VIPERS Acronym

Created by The Literacy Shed, each letter represents a specific skill that children must master to understand a text deeply:

V – Vocabulary: Understanding the meaning of words in context and why an author chose them.
I – Infer: "Reading between the lines" to understand things that are suggested but not explicitly stated.
P – Predict: Using clues from the text or illustrations to say what might happen next.
E – Explain: Describing how content is related, how meaning is enhanced through language, or expressing personal opinions about a text.
R – Retrieve: Finding and recording specific information or key details from the text (e.g. names, dates or facts).
S – Sequence / Summarise:

Sequence (KS1): Putting the main events of a story in the correct order.
Summarise (KS2): Condensing the main ideas from one or more paragraphs into a brief overview.

How the VIPERS approach is used at our school:

Teachers use VIPERS during reading lessons to target specific skills through dedicated questions and tasks.
Our children learn to apply these skills in order to better understand a wide range of texts
Parents can use VIPERS question stems at home to practice reading comprehension skills with their children

This skills-based and progressive approach supports pupils in acquiring and mastering a range of key reading skills, enabling them to become confident, thoughtful and independent readers.

Across the school, reading is promoted through whole-class reading lessons, regular independent reading, frequent opportunities to hear high-quality texts read aloud, regular reading at home and meaningful opportunities to read across the wider curriculum.

Phonics (Reading and Spelling)

At St Nicholas, we aim for every child to become a fluent reader and writer.

This is why we have chosen to teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme.

Teaching and Learning

We start teaching phonics in Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Progression, which ensures that children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school. As a result, our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read.

At St Nicholas, 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.

Comprehension

We value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.

Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have a member of staff who leads Phonics and another lead for Reading. They both drive the early reading programme in our school. These leads are highly skilled at teaching phonics and reading, and they monitor and support our reading team, so everyone teaches with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.

Implementation

Daily Phonics Lessons in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

We teach phonics for 30 minutes every day. In Reception, we build up from 10-minute sessions, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.
Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term.
We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress:
Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs (written letters to match spoken sounds), and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.
Children in Year 2 review Phase 5 and then move on to the Bridge to Spelling and other Spelling units.

Daily Keep- Up Lessons-Up Lessons

Any child who needs additional practice has Keep-Up support at least 4 times a week, taught by a fully trained adult. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.
We timetable phonics sessions 4 times a week for any child in Year 2 or 3 who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics Screening Check. These children urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Keep-Up resources – at pace.
If any child in Year 4 to 6 has gaps in their phonic knowledge when reading or writing, we plan phonics interventions based on the child’s individual stage and learning needs.

Teaching Reading: Reading Practice Sessions

We teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. These:

are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups of approximately six children
use books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments and book matching grids. This means the children should know all the sounds and tricky words in the book, read many of the words by silent blending (automatic reading) and only need to stop and sound out about 5% of the words by the time they bring the book home.
are monitored by the class teacher, who rotates and works with each group on a regular basis.

Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:

decoding
prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
comprehension: teaching children to understand the text.

In Reception these sessions can start from Week 4 if children are ready, or slightly later in the Autumn term. Children who are not yet decoding have daily additional blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.
In Year 2 and 3, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books. These children have a book matched to their secure phonics knowledge and read these at least 3 times a week in school on a 1:1 basis.

Home Reading

The decodable reading practice book is taken home to ensure success is shared with the family and for additional rehearsal.
Reading for pleasure books, known as sharing books, also go home for parents to share and read to children. The children are not expected to be able to read this book. This book is to be shared together. Parents can make the story exciting by using different voices, discussing new vocabulary and encouraging the children to talk about the book and things they see.
We use the parent resources on the Little Wandle website to support and engage our families. Resources are also uploaded on to our school website as they become available.

Ensuring Consistency and Pace of Progressing Consistency and Pace of

Every teacher and teaching assistant in our school has been trained to teach phonics/reading through Little Wandle,so we have the same expectations of progress. We all use the same language, routines and resources to teach children to read so that we lower children’s cognitive load.
Weekly content grids map each element of new learning to each day, week and term for the duration of the programme.
Lesson templates, prompt cards and ‘how to’ videos ensure that we all have a consistent approach and structure for each lesson.
The Phonics Lead, Reading Lead and Senior Leaders use the audit and prompt cards to regularly monitor and observe teaching; they use the summative data to identify children who need additional support and gaps in learning.

Impact

Assessment

Assessment is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support as soon as they need it.

Assessment for Learning is used:

daily within class to identify children needing Keep-Up support
weekly in the Review lesson to assess gaps, address these immediately and secure fluency of GPCs, words and spellings.

Summative Assessment is used:

every six weeks to assess progress, to identify gaps in learning that need to be addressed, to identify any children needing additional support and to plan the Keep-Up support that they need.

Statutory Assessment

Children in Year 1 undertake the Phonics Screening Check. Any child not passing the check re-sits it in Year 2. (2020 and 2021 Year 2 had the Phonics Screening Check in November 2021 in line with Government guidance).

Ongoing Assessment for Catch-Up

Children in Year 2 to 6 are assessed through their teacher’s ongoing formative assessment as well as through the half-termly Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised summative assessments.

Little Wandle Website Parent Support Resources and Videos

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

Spelling

At St Nicholas, spelling is taught as part of our daily routine.

Reception to Year 2

Little Wandle is our chosen programme for the teaching of early phonics and is delivered progressively. Children move on to Bridge to Spelling in Year 2, followed by the Little Wandle Spelling programme. This ensures that any gaps in phonics knowledge are identified and secured before pupils progress to the spelling units.

Years 3-6

Once children have completed the spelling units within Little Wandle, they progress to Ed Shed’s Spelling Scheme. This approach develops spelling through the relationship between sounds and written symbols, alongside the use of morphology to support spelling through meaning. Engaging activities allow children to apply their phonics knowledge and understanding of meaning, strengthening spelling skills and supporting long-term acquisition.

Spelling rules are introduced at the start of the week through direct teaching and are then revisited daily using a range of activities and techniques to support working memory. Spelling Shed is used as part of our online learning for homework from Years 2–6, and children can also access the platform independently to complete additional challenges.

Handwriting

In line with the 2025 Writing Framework, handwriting at St Nicholas School is taught explicitly and regularly across the school, beginning in Reception, alongside writing in phonics lessons. We use Letter-join’s handwriting scheme as the basis of our handwriting curriculum, enabling us to meet National Curriculum requirements through a clear, structured teaching programme.

Objective

Handwriting is a core skill that directly influences the quality of work across the curriculum. By the end of Key Stage 2, children should be able to produce fluent, legible and speedy joined handwriting, and understand that different handwriting styles are used for different purposes.

Our intention is for handwriting to become an automatic process, allowing pupils to focus fully on creativity, composition and higher-level thinking.

Aims

To develop neat, legible and fluent handwriting where letters and words are produced automatically in independent writing

To establish and maintain high expectations for the presentation of written work across the curriculum

By the end of Year 6, for children to understand the importance of neat presentation and the appropriate use of different handwriting styles (joined, printed or capital letters) to communicate meaning clearly

Expectations

All teaching staff are expected to model the agreed handwriting style for their year group consistently, whether writing through shared write, displays or in children’s books.

Consistency Across the School

Children experience coherence and continuity in handwriting teaching throughout all year groups. They are encouraged to take pride in their work and develop a positive attitude towards handwriting, fostering a sense of achievement and confidence.

Handwriting Frequency

Handwriting is taught as a cross-curricular skill and is considered in all lessons. Formal handwriting teaching takes place regularly and systematically to ensure progression and that key stage expectations are met, as outlined in the 2025 Writing Framework.

Inclusion

Children who experience handwriting difficulties due to fine motor development, including left-handed children and those with special educational needs, receive appropriate additional support.
Letter-join’s lesson planners provide differentiated activities for extra practice or challenge, and the Letter-join KS2 Handwriting Recovery Programme is used as a targeted intervention to support children who require structured handwriting support.

Progression by Phase

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

In addition to daily letter-formation practice through Little Wandle phonics, discreet handwriting lessons are taught using a printed font. Lessons include:

Warm-up activities to prepare for handwriting

Air writing, pattern making and physical activities to develop gross motor skills

Teaching correct sitting position and pencil grip

Mark making using a range of media (paper, whiteboards, sensory trays, tablets) to refine fine motor skills

Practice of letter shapes, sounds, correct formation and associated vocabulary

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)

Printed font in Year 1, progressing to cursive handwriting in Year 2

Continued development of gross and fine motor skills

Regular practice to strengthen handwriting fluency

Learning when and where to use capital letters and printed letters

Handwriting practice embedded within spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG)

Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4)

Discrete handwriting lessons taught twice weekly

Focus on secure joins, consistency in size and spacing, and increasing fluency

Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6)

Continued development of fluent, legible and speedy handwriting

Application of handwriting skills across the curriculum

Emphasis on presentation, stamina and selecting appropriate handwriting styles for different purposes