English

At the heart of our English curriculum is our passion to inspire a love of the English language and to equip them with the skills they need to read, write and talk about a wide variety of subjects.

Reading

In EYFS and Key Stage 1, our children progress through the Read, Write Inc. scheme which systematically teaches them how to decode texts.  Alongside this, classes explore a wide range of high-quality books which help them to develop their comprehension skills.

In Key Stage 2, we encourage children to read widely and to find books they love.  Through Accelerated Reader quizzes, children are empowered to find texts at an appropriate level for themselves and our library is well-stocked for all tastes.

Across the school, we celebrate reading by awarding pupils with items to add to our Reading Tree; teachers use the Reading Records to keep track of this:

25 reads = an apple

50 reads = a bird

100 reads = an owl

Our staff love to read too!  To demonstrate this, each week one of our colleagues posts a ‘Costessey Bedtime Story’ onto our Youtube channel.

Writing

Throughout their time in Costessey Primary School, children learn to express their ideas through a broad array of genres, both fiction and non-fiction.  Pupils are guided through all of the structural, grammatical and vocabulary-based skills they need to help them articulate their thoughts with specific attention to the purpose of the writing and its audience.  The content and genres taught in each year group can be found on the following document.