Subject Leaders

Writing: Mrs N. Pilkington 

Reading: Mrs V. Rowcroft 

At Our Lady and St Gerards, our writing curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children. We follow the award-winning Ready Steady Write from Literacy Counts to develop confident, independent and successful writers with high aspirations. Our writing curriculum is research-informed and impact-proven, carefully designed to support all children to master the foundational skills and write for a clear audience and purpose. Through the use of high-quality, vocabulary-rich texts, we provide exciting and meaningful reasons to write. Children are immersed in literature and taught to craft their writing with precision, using a range of pedagogical approaches, including sentence accuracy, modelled writing and shared writing, as well as regular opportunities for editing. We value spoken language as a foundation for writing. Through structured talk, drama and vocabulary exploration, children learn how to organise and express their ideas clearly before writing them down. Our aim is for every child – regardless of need – to write fluently and take pride in their work. We want our pupils to leave primary school as enthusiastic writers, ready for the next stage of their education. 

Early Years Information:

In the Nursery and Reception, staff follow the EYFS Statutory Framework.  Children develop key skills, acquire new knowledge and demonstrate their understanding through seven areas of learning and development. The seven areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.  

Three areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving.

Year 1-6

At Our Lady & St Gerard’s school, we follow the statutory guidance for the teaching of English, as set out in the National Curriculum 2014 but in accordance with our overarching curriculum aims, our curriculum for English promotes the acquisition of transferable skills to meet the demands of our 21st Century world.  We ensure that the EYFS curriculum 'dovetails' with the curriculum in Year 1 for a smooth transition into KS1.  

The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

Each Class Page outlines the English content overview for that Year Group.  Please use the sub-pages for more information about our Phonics and Reading schemes.

You can click the stars below to find more information about phonics, reading and our English curriculum.

Supporting Parents

We offer a range of workshops and activities to support parents to support their child at home and to encourage reading for pleasure.

'Stay & Read' feedback

"Great to be able to see my child in class and some of the routines."

"My child had fun reading with her friend."

"Really good to bond with the children and see the morning routines... my child loves storytime!"

Phonics Workshops

In the Autumn and Spring Terms we hold parent workshops to give parents the opportunity to learn more about phonics and work alongside their child in school.  Please see our phonics section for more information about the way we teach phonics.

"Interesting to learn about the structure of phonics and how the phonemes are pronounced."

"Great insight into what my child is learning and how I can assist.  I appreciate being invited to be part of his learning."

"Brilliant!"

(Year 1 parents)

     "The workshop was fantastic - I have learnt so much.  The word cards with sound buttons were really helpful." (Year 1 parent - January 2020)

"Good information and knowledge to use at home.  Great to spend time with ****** at school to see what he does."  (Year 1 parent  - January 2020)

"Very interesting and informative.  I like the videos (articulation & phonics check) and the interactive sessions with the kids."  (Year 1 parent - January 2020)

Book Fairs

Every year we hold Book Fairs to encourage a love of books and wider reading.  We usually tie these in with our World Book Day celebrations in March.