We will provide all of our children with a broad, relevant and enriched curriculum so that they have the character to make a positive contribution to our society and are knowledgeable, skilled and ready for the next phase of their education.

English at Abbey Mead Primary Academy is an engaging and exciting subject in which pupils are exposed to a range of high quality novels, picture books and non-fiction texts. All English teaching across the school uses our bespoke book-based curriculum to ensure that our children have regular opportunities to read and write across a range of text types and to ensure that they are developing a rich and varied vocabulary. This incorporates a range of strategies that enable our children to see writing as a means of expression and communication.

Our approach to the teaching of English is underpinned by an engaging curriculum which allows children of all abilities to develop the skills to become confident speakers and then transfer these skills into becoming confident writers over time.

As they develop, children are encouraged to see writing as a powerful means of self – expression, a creative form of communication and to write for a range of purposes. Pupils in time develop the stamina and skills to write at length, with increasingly accurate spelling and punctuation.

We explore different types of writing, such as; narratives, explanations, persuasion, descriptions, comparisons, summaries and evaluations. We aim to make writing fun, purposeful and stimulating for our children.

We at Abbey Mead endeavour to ensure that all of our children experience the range of books set out below:

Book Overview EYFS

Book Overview KS1

Book Overview Year 3 and 4

Book Overview Year 5 and 6

Reading at Abbey

At Abbey Mead Primary Academy, we believe reading is a vital life skill that underpins future academic success, wellbeing, and life opportunities. We are committed to nurturing a love of reading by providing a rich, inspiring environment where imagination and creativity flourish.
Our novel-led curriculum is carefully designed to be progressive and transferable, enabling every pupil to become a fluent, confident reader with strong comprehension skills. Through exposure to a wide range of texts, pupils develop knowledge that broadens their understanding of the world. This is achieved through our Partnership Phonics scheme, alongside wider decoding strategies, vocabulary development, and explicit teaching of comprehension skills that can be applied across the curriculum.

Spelling

All children in years 1-6 have a weekly spelling test. Please ensure that your child is practising their spellings at home. This will help with their reading and writing. The children are also expected to know the ‘common exception words’ for their age. Please see below these words for your child’s year group.

Year 1 and 2

Year 3 and 4

Year 5 and 6

Handwriting

Handwriting at Abbey Mead is taught in discrete sessions. From Year 1, we use a cursive (joined) style which starts each letter on the line. Developing a cursive script helps children with spelling as it teaches combinations of letters which link together. See our script chart below to see an example of the cursive style we use:

Phonics

The school follows The Partnership Phonics Scheme to help children develop their reading and writing skills from an early stage. As their understanding of decoding becomes more competent, our focus changes to comprehension and the understanding of what is being read.
For more information about our Phonics scheme, please click on the link below to Early Reading and Phonics.

Useful Websites

Subject Policies/Plans

English Policy
Reading Progression Map
Handwriting
Writing progression
Phonics Policy
Year 1 English LTP
Year 2 English LTP
Year 3 English LTP
Year 4 English LTP
Year 5 English LTP
Year 6 English LTP

F2 English LTP

F1 English LTP

Subject Leader/s

Miss Saujani (Writing)
Miss Healey (Reading)
Miss Mahomed (Reading)
Ms Surani (Phonics)
Mrs Sidyot (Oracy)
Ms Elliot and Mrs Tuffey (Wider Curriculum Writing)

Impact

Teachers regularly post amazing examples of English learning on our Abbey Mead Twitter feed. Have a look at our twitter feed and the document below to see fantastic learning in action.

English Impact