At Mead Vale Community Primary School, our purpose is to inspire, encourage and support all pupils to be effective communicators of language. Through having the courage to speak and write their own ideas and knowledge, and the curiosity to listen to and read those of others having developed a love of reading which is life long.  Our pupils will themselves be imaginative, creative and inspirational participants within our community. 

The English curriculum at Mead Vale will:

• enable pupils to read confidently, fluently and with understanding

• establish a culture of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information

• expose pupils to rich and exciting texts so as to foster an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage

• equip pupils with the necessary skills and experiences so that they are confident to express their own thoughts, knowledge and ideas through speaking and writing for a range of purposes and audiences

• prepare pupils for future learning by establishing firm foundations in all areas of language so that they become literate adults and readers for life

Time allocated to English

Year 1

2 x 20 minutes phonics per day

20 minute instructional/independent reading session (5 times per week)
Handwriting: focused intensive teaching during first two weeks of academic year then intervention as required
45 minute English (reading and writing) lessons based on a quality text (4 times per week)

Year 2 - 6 

20 minute spelling or grammar session (5 times per week minimum)​

20 minute instructional/independent reading session (5 times per week)​

45 minute English (reading and writing) lessons based on a quality text (5 times per week)

Assessment of  English at Mead Vale will:

• provide a baseline summative assessment for reading, grammar and punctuation, phonics, spelling and writing to assess the impact of school closure.
• provide two summative assessment points for reading, grammar and punctuation, phonics, spelling and writing

         - NfER and statutory end of key stage assessments for reading, phonics and GPS at

         - Teacher assessment for writing

• be underpinned by rigorous cross-school moderation
• allow ongoing formative assessment that identifies what pupils have learned and allow teachers to adapt the ongoing learning journey accordingly
• support pupils in becoming increasingly self-aware
• provide responses for the pupils that complement the teaching sequence in order for next steps to be most relevant for individual pupils and ensure their rapid progress