English

We were very lucky to have a visit from local author Stephanie Selby. Stephanie visited our school and talked to the children about her new book ‘Witchdaft’. She spoke to all of KS2 about what inspired her to become an author, why she choose the themes and characters that she did in her book and her journey from school to becoming an author.

Stephanie then visited each of the classrooms and the children had the opportunity to take part in a Question and Answer session with her, asking questions that they had prepared in advance of her visit. It was a fantastic day and the children really enjoyed it, we look forward to welcoming Stephanie back again soon!

Our school is committed to the teaching of reading by utilising all of the methods available to us, recognising that all children need to have a secure base in phonics. Our core reading scheme in Key Stage 1 is the Rhino Readers Twinkl Reading Scheme, supplemented with other high-quality publications. As children become fluent and secure in their phonics, they continue to access a wide range of real books in school, and their independent reading is further supported through Oxford Reading Buddy, an online platform that provides levelled eBooks, personalised feedback and interactive comprehension quizzes to strengthen reading fluency and understanding.

Children have many opportunities to learn to read. These include regular group reading sessions, individual reading and whole-class reading projects. We also have cross-phase Reading Buddies.

We are very lucky to have fantastic volunteers who help support reading across both Key Stages. These adults provide a vital role in promoting reading for enjoyment and are able to devote quality time to individual children to help with sounding out unknown words, the pronunciation of specific sounds, understanding the content of the book and developing the intonation and expression needed to make reading enjoyable for the listener.

In our reading sessions, children are encouraged to discuss their opinions about the book being read, talk about their own experiences linked to the text, and ask or answer questions about the subject matter. When reading aloud, children are supported to self-correct, use decoding strategies such as sounding out phonemes, read to the end of a sentence to work out unfamiliar words, or rely on their growing visual memory of key vocabulary.

Children are asked questions about the content of the book, the characters, how the text is organised and the illustrations. We place great importance on ensuring that children feel their views are valued and that others in the group listen respectfully.

In both Key Stages One and Two, children answer comprehension questions about a broad range of fiction and non-fiction books and texts so they experience a variety of genres. Through Oxford Reading Buddy, pupils can further develop their comprehension skills, track their own progress and engage with a rich selection of eBooks to support their ongoing growth as confident, thoughtful readers.

At our school, children begin their reading journey with the Rhino Readers phonics scheme, which is closely matched to our phonics teaching and gives pupils the opportunity to practise the sounds, blending and segmenting skills taught in class. These carefully sequenced books help build early confidence, ensuring children experience success right from the start.

As pupils become more fluent and secure in their phonics, they progress onto the Oxford Reading Buddy system, a highly engaging online reading platform designed to support developing readers. Oxford Reading Buddy provides access to a wide range of levelled eBooks, each accompanied by interactive comprehension quizzes that help children think deeply about what they have read. The personalised ‘Reading Buddy’ offers encouragement and prompts to guide understanding, making reading both enjoyable and purposeful.

Parents can log in to view their child’s achievements, track progress and celebrate success at home. Together, the Rhino Readers and Oxford Reading Buddy systems create a clear, supportive pathway that nurtures confident, fluent readers and fosters a lifelong love of reading.

In English, we provide rich opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by exploring high-quality texts that deepen understanding of feelings, beliefs and different viewpoints. Through discussion, drama and role-play, children develop empathy, reflect on moral choices made by characters and justify their opinions using evidence from the text. Collaborative reading and writing activities build confidence, turn-taking and respectful communication, supporting pupils to work effectively with others. By engaging with literature from a range of cultures, traditions and historical periods, children broaden their understanding of the world, appreciate diversity and recognise the experiences of others. English at our school supports pupils not only to become skilled readers and writers, but thoughtful, reflective and culturally aware learners.

This year we launched our new library which was officially opened by local author, Stephanie Selby.

The library has a wide range of texts including fiction and non-fiction for the children to enjoy, and we are really proud of our Diversity section.

Our library features a scanning system to allow child to have their books signed out electronically and all children have their own colourful library card which they love!

Once the children have selected a book they can enjoy it in our rainbow themed Reading Corner. Children can also vote for an Author and Book of the Week with the most popular being displayed as a recommendation to others.

Our Y6 librarians and the wonderful Miss Cameron look after our library and make sure that everyone can enjoy all of the reading opportunities it has to offer.