English

We want to inspire capable, confident , and creative young writers whose voices are valued and heard. Through a rich, ambitious writing curriculum, we aim to nurture children who can communicate with clarity, imagination, and purpose. Our children take pride in their work and understand the power of words to inform, persuade, inspire, and entertain as they complete tasks that link to the wider curriculum, concrete experiences or stimuli, and/or high-quality texts.

Our writing curriculum aims to:  

• Inspire a love of writing by immersing children in high-quality literature, meaningful contexts, and opportunities for authentic communication.  
• Build strong foundations in transcription and composition, enabling children to spell accurately, write fluently, and structure ideas with cohesion and increasing sophistication.  
• Develop writerly habits such as planning, drafting, revising, and editing, helping children become reflective and resilient in their approach to writing.  
• Celebrate diversity, ensuring children encounter stories and perspectives from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds; and recognise their own experiences as worthy of expression.  
• Equip children with a comprehensive vocabulary, empowering them to make deliberate, effective language choices.  
• Promote confidence and independence, enabling every child to take creative risks, share their ideas, and articulate themselves with purpose and pride.

Reading

Downham Feoffees Primary Academy prioritises early reading and believes that children should be taught how to read fluently, and to understand what they have read, with ever-increasing stamina as they progress through the school. We want children to develop a genuine passion for reading, and to read a range of content profitably, both for pleasure and for purpose.

Through Little Wandle and beyond, we want children to develop beneficial reading habits, both at home and in school, as early as possible. We ensure high-quality texts can be accessed through our well-stocked library and classroom bookshelves; understanding that these books offer children at Downham Feoffees Primary Academy a gateway to both the curriculum and the wider world.

Aligned to these beliefs, we teach pupils:

• the phonic skills necessary to decode through a whole-school, systematic approach;
• to read fluently, with prosody and understanding, across a broad range of texts;
• how to read high frequency words and common exception words;
• a wide and rich vocabulary (including tier 2 and 3 words) linked with visual depictions to support pupil understanding and application;
• a wide range of comprehension skills, to support their enjoyment and understanding of texts.

2026 is the National Year of Reading

Across the UK, children and young people are reading less than they used to & stories aren’t getting the same space they once did - and when reading drops, confidence, imagination and learning take a hit as well.

This year, a national spotlight is being put on reading - watch this 90 second video to find out more. 

To help kick start the 2026 National Year of Reading, we’re inviting everyone in our school community and across our trust, to take 10 minutes each day to read something you enjoy. 

Phonics

Information about the Teaching of Phonics at Downham Feoffees Primary Academy

Phonics is the name given to the process of learning the sounds, names and shapes of the letters that make up the English language. There are 44 different sounds, made up of singular or groups of letters. Some of these sounds then have a variety of ways of writing them down.

At Downham Feoffees Primary Academy children in Reception and Year 1 are taught phonics daily following Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression.  We use decodeable texts to embed the learning of phonics into reading development. 

There is some key vocabulary that both children and adults use:  Phoneme – the smallest unit of sound a letter, or group of letters makes. Grapheme – the written shape of a phoneme Digraphs and Trigraphs – two or three letters making one sound Blend – two or more sounds said closely together e.g. spl, fl, xt, ump

Children in Reception are taught handwriting and letter formation alongside their phonic learning. Children are taught the Little Wandle Rhymes to support the correct letter formation.

Please click this link For parents | Letters and Sounds for lots of resources to support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also lots of useful videos so you can see the structure of lessons within school.