The Primary English Curriculum at Lansdown Park is designed to ensure that children develop core skills that are needed to support their future. The skills they develop over their placement with us with support their ongoing learning back in their mainstream school/next setting.
Supporting them with the social, emotional aspects of oracy is vital in enabling them to start accessing and engaging with learning successfully. We measure engagement as well as attainment (using DOOYA).
The curriculum includes phonics, handwriting, reading and writing.
All students will be assessed on arrival using Unlocking letters and sounds interventions. Children will then either receive daily phonic lessons or daily interventions depending on need.
All students will be assessed on arrival and handwriting sessions will then be based on need, using the Unlocking letters and sound handwriting program.
Throughout the curriculum, reading is prioritised and developed. All students have 1:1 reading every day, supporting both their fluency and comprehension. Their book level will be chosen following their baseline assessment, considering their decoding skills, fluency and comprehension.
Children are exposed to reading in every session and given opportunities for reading for pleasure (this includes being read to). Students also have the opportunity to read with KS3 students on a weekly basis.
The writing curriculum focusses mainly on two genres: fiction and instruction writing. This reduces the cognitive load, enabling us to focus with the children on key skills needed for writing: constructing sentences, writing for meaning, segmenting for spelling, word choice.
| Writing Aims | Reading Aims | Writing Outcomes | Key Texts |
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| Writing aims | Reading aims | Writing outcomes | Key texts |
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Our approach to literacy has resulted in demonstrable improvements in pupils’ engagement and outcomes. Pupils show increased enjoyment of reading, evidenced by higher participation in reading activities and positive pupil voice feedback. This has led to greater engagement with a range of texts, supporting breadth and depth in reading.
Pupils demonstrate improved confidence in reading, enabling them to access increasingly challenging texts with fluency and understanding. They are more able to articulate and narrate ideas effectively, both orally and in writing.
In writing, pupils show improvement in clear and legible letter formation. They are supported to construct meaningful sentences with accurate grammar and punctuation, reflecting progress in composition and transcription skills. These improvements are evident in pupils’ books, formative assessments, and summative data, and contribute to strong progress from individual starting points.
The impact of these developments ensures pupils are well-prepared for the next stage of their education and supports the school’s commitment to raising standards in literacy.
