At Brettenham, all pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 take part in a daily whole-class reading session lasting a minimum of 30 minutes. These lessons are carefully planned and delivered by teachers to ensure that children develop the full range of reading skills required to become fluent, confident and enthusiastic readers.

High-Quality and Diverse Texts

Reading lessons are centred around the class text for each half term, providing children with opportunities to explore rich and engaging literature in depth. Alongside these core texts, pupils also study a range of non-fiction, poetry and other text types to broaden their reading experiences and develop their understanding of different genres.

Building Reading Skills and Vocabulary

Each week, children are introduced to a new text, which forms the focus of their reading learning. A strong emphasis is placed on the explicit teaching of vocabulary, helping pupils to expand their language knowledge and deepen their understanding of what they read.

As the week progresses, children develop and practise a range of key reading skills, including:

• Retrieving information
• Making inferences
• Predicting events
• Exploring vocabulary choices
• Summarising ideas
• Explaining and justifying their thoughts using evidence from the text

A Typical Week in Whole-Class Reading

Below is an example of how a whole-class reading week is structured at Brettenham. This consistent approach allows children to develop reading skills progressively while revisiting and applying learning throughout the week.

Day	Focus	What Children Will Do
Monday	Introduction to the Text	Read and explore a new text, discuss first impressions, build background knowledge and learn key vocabulary.
Tuesday	Vocabulary and Retrieval	Investigate the meaning of new words and answer questions by finding evidence directly from the text.
Wednesday	Inference and Prediction	Use clues from the text to make inferences about characters, events and themes, and predict what may happen next.
Thursday	Author's Intent and Text Analysis	Explore language choices, author's purpose and the impact of specific words and phrases on the reader.
Friday	Mystery Text Friday	Apply the week's reading skills independently to a completely new and unfamiliar text.

Mystery Text Friday

At the end of each week, children take part in 'Mystery Text Friday'. They are presented with a completely new text and are encouraged to independently apply the reading skills they have developed throughout the week. This provides an opportunity for pupils to demonstrate their understanding and build confidence when approaching unfamiliar texts.

Supporting Individual Readers

Throughout the week, teachers and support staff listen to children read aloud, helping them to develop fluency, accuracy and expression. Pupils are also supported in selecting appropriate books that match their interests and reading ability, ensuring they remain motivated and engaged as readers.

Reading at Home

We value the important partnership between home and school in developing a lifelong love of reading. Children are expected to bring their reading book and Reading Record to school each day in their book bag.

Reading Records are regularly checked by teachers to monitor home reading and celebrate pupils’ progress. Parents and carers are encouraged to hear their child read regularly and record this in the Reading Record. These records provide valuable communication between home and school and help us to support each child's reading journey.

 

 

At Brettenham, we are committed to providing a high-quality writing curriculum that enables all children to become confident, creative and effective writers. We believe that writing is a powerful tool for communication and self-expression, and we provide pupils with opportunities to write for a wide range of audiences and purposes across the curriculum.

Our Approach: Talk Through Text

We follow the Talk Through Text approach, which places spoken language at the heart of the writing process. We recognise that children need opportunities to explore ideas, discuss language and rehearse their thinking before they begin to write. By developing their oral language skills first, pupils are better equipped to create high-quality written outcomes.

Writing is centred around carefully selected, high-quality texts, which provide rich language, engaging themes and inspiring models for writing. These texts form the basis of learning throughout each half term and help to foster a love of literature while developing essential writing skills.

The Writing Journey

Most writing units are taught over a two-week sequence, allowing children sufficient time to fully immerse themselves in a text and develop their ideas. Throughout the process, pupils engage in:

• High-quality discussion and oracy activities
• Vocabulary development and language exploration
• Teacher modelling and shared writing
• Planning and drafting
• Self-assessment and peer assessment
• Editing and improving their work
• Publishing a final piece of writing

This structured approach supports children in producing writing of the highest possible quality while developing independence and confidence as writers.

Developing Language and Oracy

As a school with a high proportion of pupils who speak English as an Additional Language (EAL), we place a strong emphasis on vocabulary and spoken language development. Through rich discussions, storytelling, drama and collaborative learning opportunities, children are exposed to ambitious vocabulary and language structures that enhance both their spoken communication and written work.

Building Knowledge Over Time

At Brettenham, we understand the importance of building upon prior learning to ensure knowledge and skills are securely embedded. Our carefully sequenced curriculum revisits and develops key writing skills within and across year groups, enabling children to make strong progress throughout their primary education. This progressive approach ensures that pupils continually refine and extend their writing abilities as they move through the school.

Find Out More

To learn more about our approach, please view our Talk Through Text Writing Strategy document below.