At Cromwell School, we believe that English should be at the heart of all aspects of school life. Our English curriculum is designed to develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion and prepare our learners for life as successful, valuable and socially responsible citizens.
Our children’s journey begins through carefully planned activities in the Early Years to develop and enhance the children’s speaking and listening skills. Through creative puppetry sessions, the children’s imagination grows alongside their spoken English.
Developing a love of reading from our Nursery children to Year 6, is at the heart of everything we do. Our children love to hear us read during story time, take delight in the visits from established authors, and immerse themselves in our vibrant and well stocked library and book corners. Each half term our writing, and cross curriculum links are centred around a class novel. These include:
Year 1: Owl who was afraid of the dark
Year 2: The Enchanted Wood
Year 3: Charlotte’s Web
Year 4: Varjak Paw
Year 5: The Girl of Ink and Stars
Year 6: Skellig
Reading is the key that unlocks the whole curriculum so the ability to efficiently decode is essential. At Cromwell, we use the Read Write Inc phonics programme to teach our children the core skills of segmenting and blending and to start them on their ‘reading journey’. Through linking our phonics teaching and reading curriculum, we ensure that the children learn the skills of decoding alongside developing their comprehension skills.
We believe that learning without limits means we do not put a ceiling on children’s achievement, and have developed an ambitious curriculum which ensures all children access the same learning objectives and text, using adaptive teaching. Our reading pedagogy is underpinned by the Reading Framework 2023.