English

English

English at St Chad’s Catholic Primary School

At St Chad’s Catholic Primary School, we believe that strong literacy skills are fundamental to pupils’ success across the curriculum and in later life. Our English curriculum aims to develop confident readers, thoughtful writers and articulate speakers.

Rooted in our Catholic ethos, we promote a love of language, literature and communication. Through high-quality texts and meaningful writing opportunities, pupils develop the ability to express their ideas clearly, think critically and engage with the world around them.

Reading

Reading is central to our curriculum and we aim to develop confident, fluent readers who understand and enjoy a wide range of texts.

Early Reading – Phonics

In Early Years and Key Stage 1, pupils develop their early reading skills through our systematic phonics programme, Read Write Inc (RWI). Through daily phonics teaching, pupils learn to decode words, develop early reading fluency and build confidence as readers.

Further information about our phonics programme can be found on our Phonics page.

Developing Comprehension – RWI Comprehension

In Year 2, pupils begin to develop their understanding of texts through RWI Comprehension. This supports pupils in moving from learning to decode words through phonics to developing early comprehension skills.

Through structured discussion of texts, pupils develop their ability to understand vocabulary, retrieve information and discuss the meaning of what they have read. This provides an important bridge between early reading and more advanced comprehension work in Key Stage 2.

Developing Fluency and Deeper Understanding – RAMP

As pupils move into Key Stage 2, reading lessons are taught through our RAMP (Reading and Modelled Practice) approach. During these lessons, teachers explicitly model reading strategies and guide pupils in exploring and discussing high-quality texts.

Through RAMP, pupils develop key comprehension skills including:

• retrieving key information from a text
• analysing vocabulary and language choices
• making meaning through inference and interpretation
• predicting and explaining their thinking.

This structured approach supports pupils in developing confidence and independence as readers.

Reading for pleasure is actively encouraged across the school through class texts, access to a wide range of books and opportunities for pupils to share and discuss what they are reading.

Writing

Our writing curriculum supports pupils in developing the knowledge and skills needed to write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences.

Pupils learn to:

• plan, draft and edit their writing
• write for different purposes and genres
• use a wide range of vocabulary and sentence structures
• apply accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar.

High-quality texts are used to inspire writing and provide strong models for pupils to learn from. Teachers support pupils in understanding how authors craft language and structure their work.

Handwriting is taught regularly to ensure pupils develop fluent and legible writing.

Vocabulary and Oracy

Developing pupils’ vocabulary and spoken language is a key priority across the curriculum.

Teachers explicitly teach new vocabulary and provide opportunities for pupils to discuss ideas, explain their thinking and engage in meaningful conversations about texts and learning.

This focus on language supports pupils in becoming confident communicators and strengthens their reading and writing development.

Progression

In Early Years, children develop communication, language and early literacy through storytelling, mark making and early phonics.

In Key Stage 1, pupils build secure foundations in reading and writing through phonics, early composition and sentence construction.

In Year 2, pupils begin to develop comprehension skills through RWI Comprehension, which bridges the transition from phonics-based reading to more advanced text understanding.

In Key Stage 2, pupils develop greater fluency and deeper comprehension through the RAMP approach, while also writing with increasing independence and control.

This progression ensures pupils continually build upon prior learning and develop the skills needed to become confident and capable communicators.

Impact

By the time pupils leave St Chad’s, they will be confident readers and writers who are able to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively.

Pupils will:

• read fluently and with understanding
• write confidently for a range of purposes and audiences
• use accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar
• discuss texts and express ideas with confidence.

Regular assessment and monitoring ensure pupils make strong progress in their literacy development.