English at woodmansterne

English resources

Key Texts for Reading and Writing at Wodmansterne.

Our Primary English curriculum places high quality children's literature at its core and is designed to develop a life-long love of reading and writing. We work in partnership with The Literacy Curriculum and have a book based approach to topics and English lessons. Through fantastic texts, children explore language, stories, and ideas. Reading and writing take place everyday. We encourage parents/carers to support Reading at home and to come in to school to read with children and take part in library sessions during Family Reading Friday.

Active Reading

At Woodmansterne we deliver an active reading approach in all our Reading lessons which will aim to improve students’ reading comprehension, fluency, and critical thinking skills.

A particular reading type will be evident in all reading lessons; Fluency lessons will engage pupils to read aloud and practice their prosody skills; Extended Reading will inspire confidence and comprehension of a text and Close Reading will help pupils analyse a text and think deeper to the understanding of the overall context.

Writing

At Woodmansterne School, we inspire children to become confident, enthusiastic writers through a Teach Through a Text approach. Carefully chosen high-quality texts are at the heart of our writing lessons, providing pupils with rich vocabulary, engaging ideas and meaningful contexts for writing. By exploring a wide range of stories, poems and non-fiction texts, children develop a deeper understanding of language, structure and authorial choices while building a love of reading alongside writing.

Through discussion, drama, vocabulary exploration and shared writing opportunities, pupils learn how writers craft their work before applying these skills independently in their own writing.

Phonics & Handwriting

At our school, we teach early reading, phonics and handwriting through the structured ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme. This ensures that children develop secure phonics knowledge alongside correct letter formation from the outset, building strong foundations for both reading and writing. As pupils progress into the later years, we continue to develop their spelling and handwriting through Spelling Shed, which provides a clear and engaging approach to learning spelling patterns and rules, alongside regular opportunities to practise and refine handwriting skills. Together, these approaches ensure that our pupils become confident, fluent writers with a strong understanding of spelling and presentation.

We love welcoming authors to our school. They share their journey as an author and give us their 'Top Tips' for writing. These moments are in special and help to develop a life long passion for reading in all of our children.

Our outdoor Reading Snug is a warm cosy environment, giving the children the opportunity to read outside during Opal Play. We were very luck to have Jasmine Richards officially open the Reading Snug.

We would like to extend a huge Thank You to our wonderful PTFA for their generous support in funding our new reading areas around the school. These beautifully designed spaces will play a key role in strengthening our reading for pleasure ethos, giving children inviting places where they can relax and enjoy a good book.

Parent Reading Workshop Y2-Y6 (Slides) Friday 23rd January 2026

Woody Books Recommendations are given for each Key Stage, updated regularly in the link below,
and can also be found in Woody News.

Woody Book Recommendations