English
Intent
At Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, our intent is to nurture confident, fluent and enthusiastic communicators who can express themselves clearly, creatively and purposefully through reading, writing, speaking and listening. We believe that English is a fundamental life skill and the gateway to all learning. Our aim is to be a reading school—one full of enthusiastic readers who value books as a source of knowledge, imagination and joy.
Through Ready, Steady, Write and a broad, balanced English curriculum, we provide children with the tools to develop their own writer’s voice while mastering the technical skills needed to communicate for a wide range of audiences and purposes. By immersing children in high-quality, vocabulary-rich texts across fiction, non-fiction and poetry, we inspire a love of reading and writing that fosters curiosity, resilience and pride.
We also place a strong emphasis on early reading and spelling. Through systematic phonics teaching in EYFS and KS1, and targeted support such as RWI Fresh Start in KS2, children develop the essential foundations of word reading, spelling and fluency to enable them to access the wider curriculum confidently.
Implementation
We deliver our English curriculum through carefully sequenced units of work centred on high-quality, engaging texts. Ready, Steady, Write provides a consistent framework for writing, while our whole-school reading approach ensures breadth and depth of reading experiences.
Key features of implementation include:
Reading
Daily phonics sessions in EYFS and KS1, using Read Write Inc. to build fluency and accuracy.
Guided and independent reading opportunities across the school, with a strong focus on comprehension, fluency and vocabulary.
A wide range of texts, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry, chosen to reflect diversity, inspire curiosity and connect with wider curriculum topics.
Promotion of reading for pleasure through book corners, library access, author visits and whole-school reading events.
Writing
Units structured around Ready, Steady, Write—vocabulary-rich texts sequenced to develop grammar, punctuation and genre knowledge.
Modelled, shared and guided writing to make the writing process explicit and accessible.
Talk for writing strategies, including discussion, drama and partner talk, to strengthen oral language and idea development.
Opportunities for drafting, editing and redrafting to build resilience and independence.
Sentence accuracy sessions to strengthen grammar and punctuation.
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG)
Systematic teaching of spelling rules and patterns, building from phonics in EYFS/KS1 through to statutory spelling lists in KS2.
Grammar and punctuation embedded within writing units, taught progressively and applied in context.
Inclusion and Support
Adapted teaching and resources to meet the needs of all learners, including SEND and EAL.
Targeted support such as RWI Get Writing and Fresh Start sessions for pupils working below age-related expectations.
Working walls, displays and visual scaffolds to promote independence and support recall.
Enrichment
Inspiring whole-school writing days, cross-school projects, and opportunities for pupils to share their work with wider audiences.
Impact
Our English curriculum fosters a community of enthusiastic, motivated readers and writers who value books and take pride in their work. Children at Blessed Sacrament:
Read with fluency, accuracy and understanding, developing into life-long readers who enjoy books for both knowledge and pleasure.
Write with increasing confidence, creativity and technical accuracy across a wide range of genres and subjects.
Apply spelling, grammar and punctuation knowledge effectively in their writing.
Develop resilience, independence and pride through editing and improving their work.
Use spoken language effectively to discuss, explain, reason and perform.
We measure impact through:
Formative and summative assessments in reading, writing and phonics.
Ongoing teacher assessment and feedback to inform planning and next steps.
Moderation within school and across schools to ensure consistency and high standards.
Monitoring of pupil voice, showcasing opportunities, competitions and performances that give writing real purpose and audience.
As a result, our pupils make strong progress and leave Blessed Sacrament with the essential literacy skills needed for the next stage of their education, alongside the confidence to be articulate, thoughtful and creative communicators in the wider world.
Phonics and Spellings
Daily phonics lessons using Read, Write Inc, take place in EYFS, Year 1, Year 2 and KS2 as required. This is a lively and vigorous teaching of synthetic phonics. Children learn the 44 sounds in the English language and how to sound-blend words for reading (decoding) at the same time as developing handwriting skills and spellings (encoding). From Year 2 - Year 6, children also have a daily spelling lesson, which follows our spelling overview using inspired practices from RWI. In Key Stage 1, children are assessed at the end of Year 1 using a Government Statutory Assessment Tool known as the Phonics Screening Check. This screening check confirms whether the child has learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard and will identify sounds needing further consolidation in Year 2.
Purpose for Writing
There are many purposes for writing. At Blessed Sacrament, we write to inform, to entertain, to persuade and to discuss: this allows us to express feelings, explore ideas, evaluate, problem solve and argue for or against an idea.
Teaching Sequence
EYFS – Daily phonics session and English opportunities during continuous provision. In KS1 and KS2 children are taught English daily, these sessions are mostly taught in the mornings. Within these lessons we use a wide range of techniques including text marking, drama, Learning to Learn, Talk Less, group work, editing and publishing. There are four key elements to our English lessons; Speaking and Listening, GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling), Transcription and Reading. These elements form the backbone of each genre studied.
Where possible, we make links to the current wider curriculum topics and encourage children to write for a real purpose.
Grammar and Punctuation
Specific grammar and punctuation lessons are taught in all classes from year 1- 6. In every room in our school we display this useful grammar information for all children, staff and visitors to read. Our Pathways to Grammar Success is therefore reinforced throughout the school and children are expected to follow this in relation to their year group, for age related expectations.
Writing Expectations
If your child is working at their Age Related Expectation by the end of their current year group, then they will be confidently evidencing these standards across the curriculum.
Writing Standards
Reading
We strive at Blessed Sacrament to embed a life-long love of reading into our children. Each classroom has a dedicated reading area and we celebrate reading throughout the year. Each Year Group has access to a range of books that can be used in conjunction with the wider curriculum.
In EYFS and KS1, to provide further opportunities to practise and embed phonic knowledge and reading fluency, we provide the children with a fully decodable Read Write Inc. book at their current phonic level. In Nursery, the children take home an Oxford Reading Tree Story Sparks book and a book to read for pleasure with their parents - ensuring they have access to a range of authors and genres.
In KS2, we use the Oxford Reading Tree scheme to support home reading. These books provide the children with not only an opportunity to improve, challenge and practise their reading skills at the correct level, but also enables the children to access a range of genres including literary classics. A selection of Big Cat, Bug Club and Rigby Navigator books are also available to access to further support the Oxford reading levels.
In Y5 and Y6, the children also have access to a KS2 reading programme called ‘Reading Plus’. Reading Plus is an online reading programme with engaging texts for pupils to explore and enjoy. It teaches silent reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary at each pupil's individual reading level.Your child will be able to access their online file and read interactive books. Every child has been assigned a username and password, which have been sent home in order to access their home session. Alongside this, in class, your child will access Reading Plus in a dedicated session weekly.
At Blessed Sacrament, we deliver whole class reading sessions , initially from Y3 to Y6; until KS1 transitions to whole class reading from guided reading. In these lessons we focus on fluency and comprehension to further equip your child with the skills necessary to become fluent, confident readers.
Reading Standards
Reading Fluency
Reading fluency is the ability to read with pace and accuracy. To allow children to understand what they are reading they must be able to read fluently, both aloud and silent. Fluency is a crucial cornerstone of reading, and educators have acknowledged the importance of supporting and developing a child’s ability to read fluently. Whilst reading aloud children will read in phases and use correct intonation if they are fluent. Children will sound awkward when reading aloud if they struggle with reading. Developing fluency is crucial to allow students to cope with the increase in the length and complexity of texts as they progress through the national curriculum.
Reading Vipers
At Blessed Sacrament, in order to create strong, confident readers, we support children in developing their reading comprehension skills through the use of Reading Vipers. All children will work on VIPERS during class reading sessions, whether it is whole class reading, guided reading in Y1 or reading one-to-one with an adult.
Reading Programmes of Study
Reading Spine
We understand the importance of ensuring all our pupils are exposed to a range of quality texts, which the children can immerse themselves in to support their knowledge and understanding of the wider curriculum and further foster a love of reading.
The aim of the reading spine is to share with you the extensive list of books, which staff use as whole class reads and quality texts for writing. The intended outcome for the selection of texts is to provide the children with exposure to a wide, rich vocabulary and broader knowledge of the world around them and, as a result, enables them to access more complex texts expected of them - in turn, creating lifelong readers.
Treehouse
Suggested Reading
Handwriting
Children in EFYS and year 1 learn to form letters using the RWI handwriting scheme. Once children enter Year 2 the children learn a cursive print using our very own handwriting script.
Please view our handwriting script and encourage your child to use this at home as often as possible.