English

At Berry Brow Infant & Nursery Academy, we recognise that English underpins every aspect of learning and is an essential life skill. Speaking, listening, reading and writing are at the heart of our curriculum, enabling children to access learning, express themselves with confidence and become successful learners both now and in the future. 

We know that children arrive at school with a wide range of language experiences. Through a vocabulary-rich, ambitious and carefully sequenced curriculum, we aim to provide every child with the opportunities they need to become fluent, confident and skilled communicators in both spoken and written English. 

From Nursery onwards, we place a continual emphasis on developing children’s speaking and listening skills. High-quality interactions between adults and children are at the heart of our practice, with staff carefully modelling ambitious vocabulary, extending conversations, asking thoughtful questions and encouraging children to explain, justify and share their ideas. These daily interactions build children’s confidence, language development and communication skills, providing the strong foundations needed for future reading and writing. 

Writing is a central focus throughout our school. In our Early Years, children develop the knowledge and skills needed for successful writing through carefully planned continuous provision, where meaningful opportunities to mark make, draw, communicate and write are woven throughout the learning environment. Alongside this, children develop their early literacy skills through the Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) phonics programme, ensuring they gain the phonics knowledge required to become confident readers and writers. 

As children progress from the Early Years into Key Stage 1, writing is developed through high-quality shared writing, modelled writing and guided practice, allowing children to see the writing process demonstrated explicitly by skilled teachers. Children are supported to apply their phonics knowledge, develop accurate transcription skills and write for a range of meaningful purposes and audiences. 

In Key Stage 1, we use the CUSP English curriculum to build upon these strong foundations. CUSP provides a carefully sequenced approach that develops children’s knowledge of language, vocabulary, grammar, composition and authorial choices. Through high-quality texts and purposeful writing opportunities, children become increasingly confident, competent and independent writers who can communicate effectively across a range of genres. 

Our English curriculum ensures that every child develops the confidence, creativity and resilience to communicate effectively, preparing them for the next stage of their education and enabling them to become lifelong readers, writers and communicators.