Coteford Infant School

At Coteford Infant School, we believe that a love of reading is the foundation for becoming confident and capable writers. Our aim is to create an environment where children are immersed in books and stories, where reading is enjoyable, and where children are inspired to read for both pleasure and purpose. We strive to model a culture where adults actively enjoy reading, demonstrating its value in everyday life.

We recognise the importance of oracy — the ability to express ideas and thoughts clearly through spoken language — as a crucial step towards becoming successful readers and writers. We provide rich opportunities for children to develop their speaking and listening skills through storytelling, discussions, and role-play. By encouraging children to articulate their thoughts, retell events, and share ideas, we ensure they have a strong foundation for developing their writing skills.

We value mark-making from the earliest stages and nurture children’s development towards becoming fluent, confident writers with stamina and a positive “can do” attitude. We know that making mistakes is an essential part of learning, and we encourage children to use these moments as opportunities for growth and resilience in their writing journey.

We understand that children write best when they have something meaningful to write about. Therefore, we provide a range of rich, practical experiences, outings, and shared events to inspire their imagination and generate ideas for writing. Alongside this, we believe that exposing children to high-quality texts and vocabulary around a topic significantly enhances their language and writing development.

Our teaching is carefully structured to balance creativity with core literacy skills. Using the National Curriculum and EYFS framework, teachers plan lessons that develop reading, writing, and spoken language, ensuring all children are appropriately supported and challenged. The delivery of the English curriculum is structured and progressive, and yet open to flexibility and flair. Children are assessed consistently across the school. There is a rigorous programme of monitoring, feedback, and in-house training in key areas of the English curriculum.

We use the Read Write Inc. programme to teach early reading and writing, but literacy opportunities are intentionally woven throughout the curriculum to ensure learning is meaningful and cross-curricular.

We strongly believe that children who read regularly and are encouraged to articulate their ideas with confidence perform better throughout their school journey. Therefore, we actively promote a strong home-school partnership, encouraging parents to support daily reading, writing, and speaking activities. Together, we aim to equip every child with the knowledge, skills, and passion to become confident speakers, enthusiastic readers, and capable writers, setting them up for lifelong success.