At Sharnbrook Primary, our aim is build a curriculum that supports every child to read for pleasure, and reach the expected standard in all areas of literacy by the end of Key Stage 2. Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world. To achieve this, literacy will be at the heart of everything we do as effective literacy instruction has been proven to lead to improved outcomes for children by: unlocking the whole curriculum, increasing social mobility and enabling them to live fulfilled lives.

The way in which the English curriculum is structured in our school is designed to ensure effective literacy instruction meets the needs of every pupil at Sharnbrook Primary. In addition, the specific literacy skills needed for success in other areas of the curriculum are taught alongside the English lesson.

Early Reading

The teaching of early reading is delivered daily through the synthetic phonics programme (SSP), Little Wandle which begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage and continues throughout Year 1. If any child requires further support beyond Year 1, we continue to follow the Little Wandle Rapid Catch Up programme. We have chosen this scheme as it built upon Letters and Sounds which we used previously; is fully sequenced and aligned to the National Curriculum; and contains a comprehensive suite of CPD videos to support teaching and learning across the school. We are incredibly proud of our Phonics Screening pass rates for the past five years, achieving significantly higher than the National Average year-on-year.

Reading in Year 2

Reading instruction in Year 2 builds on the early reading work previously undertaken, whilst moving towards that which the children will undertake in Year 3 and beyond. Upon entering Y2, we re-assess the children who are not confident with their sounds and they follow LW Rapid Catch Up if they require it. In addition, Autumn 1 recaps the Y1 Summer 2 Phase 6 sounds. Every half term, each child reads their reading scheme book to the class teacher who assesses their progress in reading. Reading and phonics groups are conducted daily; phonics-based tasks allow children to independently rehearse previously taught skills, whilst the adults explicitly teach decoding, fluency and comprehension with their groups. Whole-class reading lessons take one of two formats: ‘unseen texts’ that comprise of either a Fred’s Reading or Literacy Shed+ resource; and a whole-class text (as detailed on our reading spine) that is slightly more challenging than the children can access by themselves, and is thus guided by the teacher to access it. Reader’s Theatre is also used within whole-class reading but is first adapted to suit the age of the children as is necessary for their developing skill level at this age.

Reading in Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, explicit reading instruction is taught for two hours per week and builds on from the work in Year 2. Again, lessons consist of either an unseen text from either Fred’s Reading or Literacy Shed+ resources, and a high-quality text as detailed on our reading spine. These texts are selected based on both their difficulty level (as determined by a lexile analyser) and its appropriateness to the cohort; and, if genuine links can be made, to the wider curriculum. Reader’s Theatre (a strategy chosen from the EEF Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2 recommendations) can be seen in approximately one in four lessons which aids comprehension and oracy skills. Reader’s Theatre is not restricted to just the reading lesson, nor fiction and poetry texts, as it works equally well across other subjects and with non-fiction texts too.

Children in Key Stage 2 who require additional support with their reading fluency and comprehension may follow one of three types of support: the Herts for Learning reading fluency project; daily reading; or thrice-weekly reading which are all undertaken in small groups.

Instilling a love of reading

To further support our pupils to engage with reading, we observe National Poetry Day, Storytelling Week and World Book Day. We have also run two sponsored reading events, raising invaluable funds to improve our libraries across the school. For the first time, in January 2026, we ran a Harry Potter Book Night for Upper Key Stage 2, which was a huge hit! We intend to run this on a bi-annual basis going forward. Furthermore, we regularly engage with authors with there being so many virtual events being available to schools. These have included workshops with: Michael Rosen, MG Leonard, Stephen and Anita Mangan, Liz Pichon, Tom Palmer and Maz Evans to name but a few!

Writing (including handwriting)

Before children can write, they must firstly develop fine motor skills and good hand-eye coordination to hold and control mark-making tools. Over time, these movements will be refined and these marks will eventually have meaning which leads to recognisable letters and words. We follow the Little Wandle handwriting scheme from Reception and into Year 1, teaching the children correct letter formation in preparation for joining.

Twinkl Cursive is our preferred handwriting style with children being taught how to join from Year 2. Regular handwriting sessions continue throughout Lower Key Stage 2, and beyond for those children who need further support to develop automaticity.

In Years 1-6 we follow the Essential Writing scheme of work which is designed to develop skilled and successful writers. It is an ambitious and progressive scheme, hooked in with high-quality literature. It is fully aligned with the key messages in the Writing Framework, providing children with the skills and strategies to write for specific purposes and authentic audiences. Oracy and grammar are built into the scheme too and links are also made to year group spelling patterns throughout.

Spelling

The teaching of spelling first begins when the children are learning to segment as part of their daily phonics lessons, ensuring children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, and master phonics to read and spell as they move through the school.

At the beginning of Year 2, the children continue review the Phase 5 sounds before completing the Little Wandle Bridge to Spelling programme. After that, they, like the rest of the school follow the Spelling Shed scheme of work which is a fully sequenced scheme of work that builds on phonics, uses morphology and etymology to strengthen spelling skills, and develops vocabulary acquisition. To aid long-term memory, we split the hour long lessons in KS2 into shorter 15-20 minute teacher-led and independent activities throughout the week to avoid cognitive overload and allow time for repetition and consolidation, just like the Little Wandle scheme of work. In addition, the online platform provides the children with further consolidation in a fun and engaging way beyond the classroom. Look-Cover-Write-Check spelling lists are adapted to suit the needs of the class and a small selection of these spellings are tested through dictation each week, thus ensuring children understand their meaning and practise other important transcription skills e.g. handwriting and the use of punctuation.

Oracy

Oracy refers to the ability to communicate effectively through speech. Spoken language not only underpins the development of reading and writing, but also enables children to successfully access all areas of the curriculum - cognitively, socially and linguistically. As well as the physical aspects of oracy (voice and body language), children need to: engage in a wide range of quality talk that promotes thinking and learning; broaden the range and depth of their vocabulary, including the use of academic language and subject-specific terms; practise active listening to include responding appropriately to others, and understanding instructions and information given; have opportunities to present and debate; and participate in drama-based activities.

Throughout the school, we provide many opportunities to develop the children's oracy skills to include: singing nursery rhymes, retelling stories orally, orally rehearsing sentences before writing them, engaging in discussions and debates, and participating in Reader's Theatre to name but a few. We use 'ABC That Response' as a whole-school strategy to practise actively listening and building on, or challenging (in a constructive manner), other people's ideas during discussions. In addition, we provide sentence stems to scaffold the children's responses in order that they can develop their responses effectively.

World Book Day 2026

Here a few photos from our World Book Day celebrations this year. In addition to dressing up as their favourite book characters (or even as a book jacket itself), each class participated in different activities to include: oral storytelling using props; writing book reviews and alternative endings to their favourite stories; performing stories in Readers' Theatre; enjoying virtual author visits; and even completing a book quiz where answers had to be given using physical activity!