English

At Bignold we are a reading school and this is at the centre of everything we do. 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.

Mrs Stammers (5S teacher) is our English Lead.

Mrs Taylor (1T teacher) is our Read Write Inc lead for Phonics.

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 our daily reading lessons children develop and enhance their reading skills. In our daily Read Aloud sessions children are read to by an adult. These sessions enhance vocabulary acquistion and allow children to listen to a story above their own reading ability. Indepedent reading is a focus in our drive to develop confident, fluent and ambitious readers. We are determined to develop and extend our readers and work in partnership with children to ensure their choice of books is at the right level of challenge yet interests them. Each class visits the library of well-stocked books once a week.

Across the school, we celebrate reading by awarding half-termly reading vouchers to one child in each class, this is chosen by all the adults in the class and each week the class with the highest percentage of children reading at least 4 times a week earns a healthy treat from the kitchen.

Writing

Throughout their time in Bignold, 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. We are a Talk for Writing School. Children are given the opportunity to practice and showcase their writing skills across the curriculum.