English

English is learning to read, write, speak and listen

At Mendell, we believe that every child can succeed in English and become nurturing confident, articulate communicators who love reading, writing and speaking. Our vision is to foster a lifelong passion for language so children can access all learning and participate fully in society. Mendell's English curriculum emphasises creativity, critical thinking and cultural understanding through diverse texts and an inclusive, supportive environment.

At Mendell, we aim to nurture confident, enthusiastic readers who, by around the age of 7, are reading fluently with a strong level of understanding. We encourage children to develop a love of reading and to enjoy exploring a wide range of texts for both pleasure and information. As they progress, children build a rich vocabulary, a growing understanding of grammar, and familiarity with the conventions of reading, writing and spoken language.

We support children in learning to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style for different purposes, audiences and contexts. Through discussion, children are encouraged to deepen their learning by sharing, explaining and developing their ideas. We also place strong value on speaking and listening skills, giving children regular opportunities to take part in presentations, debate, drama, role-play, storytelling and discussion.

Through effective synthetic systematic phonics children at Mendell learn to read, then at age 7, when we aim for all our children to effectively read, they then read to learn. If a child is not able to read by age 7, intensive support is put in place to enable them to catch up quickly. Children at Mendell are taught phonics using the Little Wandle Phonics planning. Parents can click on the following link to the Little Wandle website to support their child's learning https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/.

Through effective English teaching and a well planned curriculum, our children acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to become lifelong learners and linguists. We strive to ensure that all our pupils receive a wide learning experience when reading, writing, speaking and listening which will equip them with the fundamental tools to achieve at Mendell Primary and beyond.

It is our intention to immerse pupils in the wonders of quality texts to instil a love for reading, a passion for discovery and a confidence to explore their imagination through our Book-Led curriculum. Through rich texts and engaging discussions, we develop fluent readers and writers, equipping our pupils with the essential tools for academic success and active citizenship. At Mendell Primary School we aim to provide thoroughly engaging experiences for children throughout the school so that they can read, write and speak fluently, communicating their ideas and emotions to others.

Mendell's Approach to Reading

At Mendell Primary School we nurture a genuine love of reading through a warm, joyful, and inspiring reading culture. Just Listen Time, invites children to relax and enjoy high-quality stories as teachers read aloud with enthusiasm, bringing books to life. Excitement is sparked through secret readers, fun reading events, and regular visits to the school library, while initiatives such as sponsored reading challenges and a reading advent calendar keep children motivated and curious. Author and illustrator visits, poetry-by-heart competitions, and the celebration of World Book Day help children see reading as something special and memorable. Family-friendly activities, including breakfast with a book and parent-and-child book swaps, strengthen the shared love of reading and create positive reading experiences both at school and at home.

F2 and Y1 follow the Little Wandle three day reading process of segmenting and blending, prosody and comprehension before the children then take the book home to read with parents to practise fluency. During these group sessions the children read the Collins Big Cats Phonics for Little Wandle books which they then take home to read another three times for 95% fluency. Year 2 to Year 6 read Bug Club books and answer comprehension quizzes which are monitored regularly by teachers.

In Year 2 - Year 6 we follow Pathways to Read and we deliver one whole class shared reading lesson per week from years 2-6 with bespoke grouped reading for every pupil at least once a week as well as individual reading. For pupils still needing support with phonics from years 2-6, we provide an individual reading programme that has phonically decodable texts at the heart of it. In our shared and grouped reads, there is a clear teaching focus with the opportunity to master key reading skills in each session. There are follow on reading tasks to enable pupils to evidence the skills they have mastered independently.

Many opportunities for widening children’s vocabulary are given through the Pathways to Read
approach and this builds on the extensive work we do in school to provide our children with a rich
and varied vocabulary.

You will find the end of year expectations for reading for each of our year groups in the attached
documents. For further detail on the skills that your children are learning on a termly basis, please contact your class teacher.

We also use Pathways to Write to drive our writing curriculum. This aligns with Pathways to Read ensuring meaningful links for our pupils with texts and topics that are used across Literacy,
Humanities and Science.

Mendell's Approach to Writing

We follow a Mastery approach to English through the programme Pathways to Write. Units of work are delivered using high quality texts and children in all year groups are given varied opportunities for writing. Skills are built up through repetition within the units, and children apply these skills in the writing activities provided. Many opportunities for widening children’s vocabulary are given through the Pathways to Write approach and this builds on the extensive work we do in school to provide our children with a rich and varied vocabulary.

Following the Writing Framework 2025 guidance we have ensured teachers have adapted our scheme to cater for all individual children's needs. We ensure children have good foundations for writing from Reception onwards. We teach handwriting using Little Wandle Phonics letter formation rhymes from F2 to Year 1 and Year 2 to Year 6 follow the progressive Letter Join planning.

You will find the end of year expectations for writing, reading and spoken language for each of our year groups in the attached documents. For further detail on the skills that your children are learning on a termly basis, please contact your class teacher.

Early Years and English

Our curriculum starts from EYFS and is progressive throughout Early Years, KS1, lower KS2, upper KS2 and beyond, which is why we teach Little Wandle Phonics from F2 to Y2 and beyond for children that need specific phonics support. F2 are taught writing through Drawing Club which is planned and delivered by our most experienced practitioners.

Continuous Provision activities are set up to provide an enriched learning environment for children to independently apply phonics learning and develop ‘Characteristics Of an Effective Learner’. The practitioners within the environment provide regular reading and writing opportunities for example writing a list in the home area or labelling a building plan in the block area.

The children also apply their writing skills during a weekly adult led activity where the practitioner models how to write sentences and thinks aloud like a writer. Vocabulary and language development is key within our setting and our well-trained practitioners ask the children questions, role play with the children and sing songs throughout the day. Regular discussions about previous learning take place to help the children know more and remember more in all areas of Development Matters 2020 Revised September 2023.