English

Welcome to English at St Anne Line Catholic Infant School

“We love, we learn, we pray.”

Hello and welcome to our English curriculum page! I am Mrs Warren, Deputy Headteacher and English Lead.
I am delighted to share how we teach and celebrate English at St Anne Line. As a Catholic school, our English curriculum is built upon our mission to help every child become confident, creative, and compassionate communicators who use their voices to make a positive difference in the world.

We believe that reading and writing open the door to every subject — they allow our children to explore ideas, express their faith, and understand the beauty of God’s world and the people within it.

Reading

At the heart of our reading curriculum is a passion for stories and a commitment to giving every child the tools they need to become a fluent, confident reader.

In the early years and Key Stage 1, we use Read Write Inc (RWI) to teach phonics in a structured and engaging way (see see below for more information). This ensures that all children quickly develop the skills they need to decode and understand text. As children progress, they are encouraged to read widely and often — from Bible stories and classic tales to poetry and modern fiction that celebrates diversity and faith.

We want every child to develop not only fluency but also a love of reading. Through story time, and discussion, our pupils learn to think deeply, make connections, and appreciate the joy that reading brings.

Writing

Our writing curriculum is built on strong foundational knowledge and ensures a clear, ambitious progression of skills across the school. From the earliest stages, pupils develop the essential building blocks of writing, including transcription (handwriting and spelling), sentence construction, and vocabulary, which enable them to write with increasing fluency, accuracy, and confidence.

Writing is taught with clear purpose and is rooted in high-quality texts that model effective language, structure, and composition. Teachers explicitly model the writing process, guiding pupils to plan, draft, edit, and improve their work. Through this structured approach, children develop independence, control, and pride in their writing, learning how to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively.

Handwriting and Spelling

We set high expectations for presentation, handwriting, and spelling. From the start of their journey, children are taught correct letter formation and pencil control through Read Write Inc sessions and stand-alone handwriting lessons, progressing to fluent and joined handwriting as they move through school.

Spelling is taught systematically using the National Curriculum objectives. Dedicated spelling lessons in KS1 teach children spelling rules to apply. Children are encouraged to explore patterns, prefixes, suffixes, and word meanings — developing strong spelling habits that support confident writing. We use spelling checks rather than tests — giving children the opportunity to revisit and apply words in meaningful contexts rather than simply memorising lists. These checks help teachers identify next steps, celebrate progress, and ensure that spelling is understood, not just remembered.

Our Vision for English

At St Anne Line Catholic Infant School, we consider the teaching of English to be at the heart of the school curriculum.

In our school, where a high proportion of our children speak English as an additional language, the English curriculum is designed to be inclusive, supportive, and language-rich. We focus on building strong foundations in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with an emphasis on vocabulary development, phonics, and comprehension. Through tailored English lessons, interventions and a language-friendly environment, we aim to develop children’s confidence in using English while celebrating their linguistic diversity. The curriculum fosters communication skills, ensuring all children, regardless of their language background, have the opportunity to succeed and engage meaningfully in their learning and develop a love of language and reading.

Helping Your Child Learn to Read at St Anne Line Infant School and Nursery

At St Anne Line, we want every child to become a fluent, confident reader who enjoys reading. Reading opens the door to many exciting worlds and helps children become independent, lifelong learners.

We support this through:

Read Write Inc. (RWI): a phonics-based programme taught in school
Reading to your child daily: at home and in school (please see QR codes below to access Virtual Classrooms at home)
Access to a variety of books: both in school and at home (click on the Oxford Owl eBook Library link below and use your child's username and password in their reading records)

Oxford Owl eBook Library

What is Read Write Inc. (RWI)?

RWI is a structured reading programme that helps children learn to read quickly and confidently. It focuses on phonics – learning the sounds in words – and also supports spelling, vocabulary and comprehension.

RWI was created by Ruth Miskin. You can find more information through the website link below:

How We Teach RWI

Children are grouped by ability in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and assessed regularly to make sure they are learning at the right level. Here’s what RWI looks like across the school:

Nursery

Short sessions introducing letter sounds.

Reception

Learning to read and write sounds as a whole class until October half-term
Blending sounds to read simple words
Beginning to read storybooks matched to their level
4 x weekly 45-minute lessons after half-term in ability groups

Year 1 and Above

4 x weekly 45-minute lessons (speed sounds lesson and storybook lesson)
Learning more complex sounds
Moving to reading comprehensions once reading is fluent

What Children Learn

Reading

44 sounds and matching letters or groups of letters
Blending sounds using Fred Talk (e.g. c-a-t → cat)
Reading storybooks and non-fiction that match their level
Building understanding by answering simple questions

Writing

Forming letters using fun phrases
Spelling words by sounding them out
Building sentences by saying them out loud first

Speaking

Working in pairs to:
- Take turns reading and speaking
- Share answers and ideas
- Use new and ambitious words

Our Approach

RWI is built around five key principles:

Purpose – Every lesson has a clear goal.
Participation – All children are involved in every activity.
Praise – We celebrate effort and progress.
Pace – Lessons are fast-moving and focused.
Passion – Teachers are enthusiastic and bring lessons to life.

At St Anne Infant School, we are determined that every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities. All pupils, including the weakest readers, make sufficient progress to meet or exceed age-related expectations. We do this though:

Fidelity to the RWI programme, from sounds to fluency
Reception – make a strong start
Expertise – we build a strong, expert team to teach phonics and early reading
Decodable books – carefully matched to children’s phonic knowledge
Stories – the best (see our reading spine!)
Progress of lowest 20% – strong - and we deliver a bespoke 1:1 tuition programme, so children can 'keep up, not catch up'
Leaders ensure every child reads in their school, and teachers model reading to the children daily.

Fred Talk

To help children blend sounds into words, we use a puppet called Fred who “speaks in sounds.” For example:

m-o-p → mop
sh-o-p → shop
b-l-a-ck → black

This technique is called Fred Talk and helps children hear and blend sounds easily.

Please attend our phonics workshops to find out how to best support your child at home and in school and use the information below to find out more.