English
Subject Vision
At Deptford Park, we want every child to become a confident, fluent reader and writer who can express themselves clearly and creatively. English sits at the heart of our curriculum, and we provide a rich language environment where all children can thrive. Our vision is for pupils to become fully literate, develop a love of books and high‑quality literature, and read widely for pleasure.
We teach the foundations of spelling, grammar, handwriting and punctuation securely so that children have the tools they need to write well. We also nurture children’s confidence in expressing their ideas, opinions and creativity, and ensure that their identities, cultures and languages are valued and celebrated.
How do children learn Reading at Deptford Park?
Reading is central to our curriculum, and teaching is adapted so every child can make progress through shared, guided, one‑to‑one and independent reading.
We use the Little Wandle phonics programme to help children become confident, fluent readers and writers. Through daily, engaging phonics lessons, children learn to recognise letters and sounds, blend sounds to read words and develop their spelling skills. The programme provides a clear, structured progression that ensures all pupils build strong foundations in early reading. Regular assessment and targeted support help every child to achieve success, while carefully matched reading books enable them to practise and apply their phonics knowledge with confidence both in school and at home. Those who need extra help access Daily Keep Up interventions or Rapid Catch‑Up interventions.
Little Wandle has a range of useful resources on its website to support parents: For parents | Letters and Sounds.
From Year 2, children are taught specific reading skills that help them understand and think deeply about what they read. Through a wide range of books, stories and texts, they learn to discuss characters, themes and key events, as well as explore why authors choose particular words and writing techniques. These skills help children become confident, thoughtful readers who can explain and support their ideas about a text.
To support our reading skills-based approach, we use the ‘VIPERS’ framework, originally developed by Rob Smith of ‘The Literacy Shed’. Our approach teaches the following reading skills:
- V – Vocabulary
- I – Inference
- P – Prediction
- E – Explain
- R – Retrieval
- S – Sequence (Early Years and Key Stage 1) or Summarise (Key Stage 2)
We place a strong emphasis on developing a love of reading. Inviting reading corners, daily story times, class authors, reading-focused assemblies and visits to the local library encourage children to enjoy books and discover new stories.
How do children learn Writing at Deptford Park?
Writing is taught through a three‑week Read–Write–Edit cycle linked to a high‑quality core text that reflects our inclusive curriculum.
- Immersion: Exploring the text through author study, drama, discussion and oracy
- Exploration: Learning vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure and text features
- Output: Planning and writing for a clear purpose, followed by editing and publishing
Grammar, spelling and handwriting are taught through our writing cycle, with the teacher explicitly modelling the skills needed to become a fluent and confident writer. In addition, the children have dedicated lessons on grammar and spelling, supported by Emile, and on handwriting.
How do we know what children have learned in English?
- Questioning
- Pupil learning reviews
- Learning walks
- Quizzing and retrieval practice
- Performances and presentations
- Feedback and marking
- Progress in books matches the curriculum intent
- Summative and formative assessment
- Peer and self assessment
- Internal and external moderation
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