English

At Northwood Park Primary, our English curriculum is rooted in our core values:

At its core, our approach to English at Northwood Park recognises that when children learn to read, write, and understand the world, they grow not only as learners but as kind, brave and proud individuals.

Through a carefully woven Golden Thread of diverse, high quality texts, children step into lives beyond their own. Pupils are exposed to different experiences which helps them develop empathy and respect for others. In exploring characters, cultures, and perspectives, they learn to listen, reflect, and value difference, nurturing a deep sense of kindness.

Daily reading opportunities create a supportive space where children can challenge themselves. With guidance and strong role models, they learn to tackle unfamiliar words and ideas, building confidence over time. This consistent encouragement helps Pupils to develop bravery and the resilience to persevere, question and tackle challenges in their learning.

English at Northwood Park

Through a structured process of exploring, practising, creating and refining, Pupils learn that their thoughts and ideas matter. Sharing their work builds confidence, whilst editing encourages both independence and resilience. Each piece of writing becomes a source of pride, reflecting both effort and personal voice.
A strong focus on vocabulary further strengthens this journey. We want to deepen understanding and foster curiosity about language and culture. With tailored support ensuring every child can succeed, all pupils are empowered to grow.

By the time they leave, children are confident communicators who read widely, write with purpose, and take pride in themselves as kind, brave, and capable individuals proud of their achievements.

EYFS

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, English is woven throughout our Golden Thread curriculum, providing essential foundations for communication, reading and writing. Through high quality texts, purposeful interactions and a language rich environment, children at Northwood Park develop vocabulary, speaking and listening skills and a love of reading. Systematic synthetic phonics via RWI supports children to decode, blend and develop early writing skills.

Meaningful opportunities for mark making, storytelling, role play and writing encourage creativity and independence. Assessment and responsive teaching ensure individual starting points are recognised and barriers addressed, enabling all children to develop the confidence, knowledge and curiosity needed to flourish as readers, writers and communicators.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage 1, English teaching builds upon the foundations of EYFS in reading, writing and spoken language. Our RWI phonics scheme enables pupils to decode accurately and develop increasing fluency, while high quality texts studied as part of our Golden Thread of reading foster a love of reading and broaden vocabulary.

Pupils learn to write for different purposes and audiences, developing their skills in composition, handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation. Through modelling, shared writing and purposeful practice, children become increasingly confident and independent writers. Assessment and responsive teaching ensure that gaps are identified quickly and appropriate support is provided, enabling all pupils to make strong progress as readers, writers and communicators.

Key Stage 2

English teaching in KS2 enables our pupils to develop into confident, fluent and increasingly independent readers, writers and communicators. A range of exciting and engaging texts are studies as part of the Golden Thread curriculum. This enables pupils to broaden their vocabulary, deepen comprehension skills and develop an appreciation of diverse literature. Pupils write for a range of purposes, audiences and forms, making increasingly deliberate choices in vocabulary, grammar and structure. Explicit teaching of spelling, punctuation, handwriting and composition supports accuracy and fluency. Pupils continue their spelling journey through RWI spelling and handwriting. Through modelling, discussion, drafting, revising and editing, pupils develop their individual voice as writers. Assessment and responsive teaching identify gaps and provide appropriate support, enabling all pupils to achieve their potential and prepare successfully for secondary education.

Reading

At Northwood Park we believe in encouraging pupils to foster a love of reading for pleasure. Pupils who read on a regular basis in school - and at home - have a higher chance of fulfilling their academic potential.

We aim for reading to permeate all areas of the curriculum. Independent reading, and reading as a class, are integrated into the existing curriculum, with aspects of the Reading Policy used in everyday teaching. A wide variety of texts are available in order to provide pupils with a range of reading options.

Writing Overview