Dare to read something new. Discover new authors. Discover what makes a non-fiction book or text. Discover what facts and knowledge they give. Dare to write independently.

Our ‘text-rich’ curriculum aims to motivate and inspire children, through lessons that engage and challenge all learners and provide them with a high standard of language and literacy skills. We aim to ensure progression in knowledge and skills across all year groups and believe that the ability to read and write is fundamental to our children succeeding; enabling them to access other curriculum areas, the next stage of their education and beyond.

Our Christian values alongside our school mission statements ‘Dare. Discover. Do.’ are at the heart of a curriculum  where all children are encouraged to reach their full potential.

Reading

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum at Ducklington Primary School. We are dedicated to enabling our children to become competent and confident readers, engaging with a wide range of genres.

Early reading is invested in and prioritised and we want all ages to develop a love of reading, participating fully in discussions about the books. Language used by different authors is explored and we aim for children to not only read for pleasure but to use books to research and gather new knowledge.

When children leave Ducklington, we expect them to be avid readers; children who read fluently and widely and are able to express preferences and opinions about the texts that they read.

In English, we implement an inclusive curriculum that meets the statutory requirements of the national curriculum. Our curriculum is well planned and provides literacy rich cross curricular opportunities. We ensure that we regularly review previous learning and challenge all children.

Our literacy rich curriculum uses high quality texts, immerses children in vocabulary rich environments and ensures curriculum expectations and progression of skills are met. Each classroom has a book corner and a selection of books directly linked to their topic. The school library offers a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts for children to borrow.

Nursery

Children are read to using quality storybooks at least once everyday, both linking to topic or free choice. Sometimes, a book vote is used to choose the story for the end of session. Children sing nursery rhymes twice during a whole day session using different resources such as interactive whiteboard, nursery rhyme props and books. Children have designated reading areas accessible both indoors and outdoors at all times to encourage independent exploration of books. Weekly phonic sessions covering phase 1 provides children with the skills to prepare them for early reading in Reception. Different signs are on display both indoors and outdoors to encourage familiarity with letters and words.

 

Reception and Key stage 1

Phonics is taught daily. Children are consistently taught early reading using our chosen Systematic Synthetic Phonic programme, (SSP); Rocket Phonics. This ensures progression in decoding and blending sounds to enable children to read with confidence. We use an inclusive whole class approach with children when teaching phonics, progress is closely monitored and additional support is given when needed. All teaching staff has had phonics training and this is updated when appropriate. Children have access to high-quality ‘real books’ alongside decodable reading books, both are closely matched to the children’s reading ability to ensure success. Ebooks provide an additional accessible resource for parents at home to support their child and help to embed the teaching of phonics in school and reading comprehension.

Link to our Phonics page

Key stage 2

Daily story time supports children in hearing familiar and new stories but is also an opportunity for children to access texts beyond their reading stage, being immersed in the language and a shared story experience. Opportunities are also provided for children to practice their reading in school through reading as a class, choral reading, paired reading, and 1-1 reading with an adult across all curriculum subjects.

Children in KS2 who are not yet independent and fluent readers are given additional support to enable them to use their phonological knowledge to access texts for pleasure and as a means for learning, these children have access to high-quality ‘real books’ alongside decodable reading books, both are closely matched to the children’s reading ability to ensure success. Children have opportunities to read in all aspects of the school curriculum.

Our rich reading curriculum ensures children are equipped with the skills to enjoy and appreciate literature. By the time children leave Ducklington Primary School they will be able to read with accuracy, speed, confidence, fluency and understanding, ready to access the secondary school curriculum and can engage with texts and the wider world to develop a life-long enjoyment of reading and books.

Writing

We want our children to be confident communicators and develop a passion for writing. We are dedicated to enabling them to develop the resilience required for independent writing.

Our aim is to ensure that pupils write accurately and coherently, using different styles for different purposes and audiences. They will develop a solid understanding of the grammar rules, apply spelling patterns correctly and use neat handwriting. We are determined that every child who leaves in Year 6 will have accessed and experienced detailed and precise teaching of all expected grammar objectives.

Experiencing a wide range of high-quality vocabulary is at the heart of our writing curriculum and we provide opportunities for this to be applied to independent writing.

We want our children to be able to identify areas for improvement and have the necessary skills to edit and refine their writing, resulting in the production and publication of something that makes them proud.

Nursery

Mark making resources and activities are planned for, set up or available in both indoor and outdoor environments on a daily basis. Writing modelled where appropriate during carpet time inputs. Regular adult led activities planned and implemented with a mark making/writing focus. Children are encouraged to try writing letters from their name or whole name on their work/artwork.

 

Reception:

In Reception children are offered a wide range of writing opportunities. They learn to differentiate between print and pictures and also making the connection between speech and writing. Children are taught to recognise the symbolic nature of writing including the sound, name and order of letters and how to write them correctly through whole class daily phonics sessions as well as writing for enjoyment and for a variety of purposes.

 

Key Stages 1 and 2:

We immerse the children in a rich and creative and carefully planned curriculum so that they are writing for real and engaging purposes. Children study a broad range of fiction and non-fiction including novels, picture books, articles, short stories and poetry. High-quality texts provide the opportunity for children to draw on the language and literary devices authors use to communicate their information, feelings and ideas. These can then be used in their own writing.

Our curriculum ensures that children write with confidence whilst developing their own style of writing so that they are able to express themselves creatively and communicate effectively with others. We aim to expose our children to a wide range of high quality vocabulary and provide opportunities for them to use that in their own writing, both formally and informally, with understanding.

We encourage children to take pride in the presentation in their writing and develop a neat joined handwriting style by the time they leave the school. We teach children spelling and grammar both discreetly and as part of our exploration of texts. We want children to be able to identify their own areas for improvement in pieces of writing so that they can edit their work effectively during and after the writing process. We want children to understand and learn the craft writing so that they can plan, produce and publish something of which they are proud.

By the time children leave Ducklington Primary School, they will be confident, independent writers. They will be ready to develop further their preferred style of writing through the secondary school curriculum. The impact of our writing curriculum is that children written in genres, on a variety of subjects. As authors they are able to adapt their style and language to suit various audiences and purposes and are able to reflect on how to improve it further.

Speaking and Listening

At Ducklington, speaking and listening is developed from nursery and beyond. We want our children to be able to express themselves with confidence in a safe and supportive environment. This is reflected in every area of our curriculum as we believe that good communication skills can enhance every type of learning. We encourage the exploring of ideas through talk and our pupils are taught to challenge each other’s opinions, through development of reasoned arguments.