At Newlaithes Nursey and Infant School we believe that a high-quality English curriculum will develop a child’s love of reading and writing.

We encourage creativity and the development of vocabulary using the principles of ‘Talk 4 Writing’, (Pie Corbett) and the ‘Power of Reading’ (CLPE). This process starts in our nursery and follows children all the way through school. We understand that not all children who start reception with us will have been to our nursery; the curriculum in reception acknowledges this and includes all children in the journey of language development once they start with us.

Staff are good role models for spoken language and provide opportunities to extend children’s language skills through quality interactions. Lunch and recreation times are also used to enhance language development within our school. We use stories, poems, rhymes and songs as an opportunity for children to explore and learn new vocabulary.

We strive to make every child a writer who can construct ideas orally and then transfer those ideas to paper using their phonic and common exception word knowledge. We focus on key skills in writing; looking at spelling, punctuation and grammar. As children move through school they are encouraged to develop their understanding of how a text might change for a specific audience.

Children at Newlaithes Nursery and Infant school enjoy writing across a range of genres and subjects. Work is appropriately scaffolded to allow all learners to achieve in English lessons. Continuous and enhanced provision across school allows children to practise their skills independently as well as with their peers.

Mrs Kerr is the English coordinator in school and works alongside the reading leader, Mrs Willows.