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The Cobbs Infant and Nursery School

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ENGLISH

The Cobbs Infant and Nursery School believes that developing strong English skills is essential for progressing across the curriculum and preparing for adult life. All teachers have a responsibility to develop pupils’ competence in reading, writing, speaking and listening and to ensure that pupils build the language skills necessary to fully access the curriculum.

Reading

At our school, reading is seen as a life skill and the essential key to academic success. In line with the principles of Development Matters, we are dedicated to establishing strong foundations in the early years, ensuring every child develops a life-long love of reading.

To achieve this, we follow the Bug Club Phonics scheme to ensure consistent, progressive, and robust teaching of early reading. Our curriculum includes daily phonics lessons and a daily guided read of Bug Club Phonics books. In Reception and Year 1, reading books are precisely matched to the specific grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) pupils have been explicitly taught. Providing children with extensive practice in these decodable books allows them to apply their knowledge of synthetic phonics to decode unfamiliar words with confidence, accuracy and fluency.

We believe that synthetic phonics provides the necessary foundation for becoming a fluent reader. To ensure every child stays on track, we conduct regular phonic assessments and provide targeted intervention where needed. We understand that once children can decode fluently, the teaching of comprehension is quicker and more effective, as they can focus their full attention on understanding and responding to a wide range of texts.

Beyond formal instruction, we provide a text-rich environment to foster a positive culture and enjoyment of reading. This culture is further promoted through a variety of engaging school-wide initiatives, including:

What English looks like in our school

Cygnets - Small world play
Nursery - Role-play shed
Nursery - 'Squiggle while you wiggle!'
Nursery - Enjoying Dough Disco 'Roll it'
Nursery - Independent writing in the outdoor 'Jungle Explorers' roleplay
Playtime - Role-play shed
Reception - Mark making in foam in continuous provision
Reception - Blending sounds to read
Reception - Learning to recognise yellow tricky words playing 'Splat Hands'
Reception - Role-play in continuous provision
Reception - Recognising and reading sounds
Reception - Recognising letters of the alphabet
Reception - Segmenting the sounds in simple words
Year 1 - Independent writing
Year 1 - Playing snakes and ladders to practise the digraph 'aw' in Phonics session

Reading in our school

Nursery - Looking at books in the reading den
Nursery - 'Story Telling' Chair
Reception - Library time
Reception - 'Story Telling' Chair
Reception - Receiving a rosette for learning tricky words
Reception - Reading Bug Club phonics books online
Year 1 - Enjoying books in the reading corner
Year 2 - Choosing a book in the Library

Reading Buddies - where children have opportunities to share their favourite stories across different year groups.
World Book Day - annual celebrations and assemblies held to inspire a passion for literature.
Bookswap Shed and Bookfairs - regular opportunities for families to refresh their home libraries and encourage a strong partnership with parents to support reading at home.
Therapy Dog Reading sessions - children visit the library with their reading book to read to George our Therapy Dog.

In addition to these events, children hear, share, and discuss high-quality fiction and non-fiction through daily story times and whole-class teaching. Each class features an inspiring reading corner, and all pupils enjoy weekly access to the school library to further develop their passion for reading.

Spoken Language

At our school, we believe that spoken language is the bedrock of all learning and thinking. In accordance with the principles of Development Matters, we recognise that the development of children’s language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. We are dedicated to establishing strong foundations in the early years to ensure every child has the best start in life. To support this, we focus on the following core areas:

The SHREC Approach in Early Years - we prioritise high-quality, back-and-forth interactions from the earliest stages. Following the SHREC approach (Share attention, Respond, Expand, Conversation), our staff engage children by commenting on their interests, echoing back what they say, and adding new vocabulary to build their language skills effectively. We ensure that every child takes part in these quality conversations every day, providing the scaffolding they need to become confident communicators.
An Oracy Programme Linked to Texts - our oracy curriculum is built upon four key strands: Physical, Linguistic, Cognitive and Social & Emotional. This framework provides a progressive structure for teaching spoken language, ensuring that our oracy focus is woven into daily themes and anchored in high-quality literature. From Nursery to Year 2, children engage with a Nursery Rhyme Spine and specific core texts, utilising "Vocabulary Vines" to embed adventurous new words in context.
Active Engagement with Literature - through our Oracy Programme, children interact deeply with stories. This includes:
- Retelling and Performance - using puppets for Owl Babies, creating soundscapes for We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, and performing poems with attention to pace and rhythm.
- Critical Thinking and Debate - engaging in hot-seating with characters from The Gingerbread Man or Little Red, and participating in formal class debates on themes such as "Was Jim right to take the Giant's treasure?".
- Cognitive Development - orally rehearsing sentences before writing and retelling stories from different perspectives, such as Tadpole’s Promise.
Early Identification via WellComm Screening - recognising that children join us with different starting points, we use the WellComm speech and language toolkit to identify any barriers early.
- Universal Screening - all children undergo a quick, 10–15 minute screening that provides an instant profile of their needs without requiring specialist expertise.
- Traffic Light Reporting - we use a simple traffic light system - Green (expected level), Amber (targeted support needed), and Red (complex needs/referral) - to ensure no child's language difficulties are hidden.
- Targeted Intervention - for children with Amber indicators, we immediately implement play-based activities from the "Big Book of Ideas" to provide tailored, school-based support.
- EAL Support - the visual nature of WellComm also helps us distinguish between a language barrier and a developmental need for children speaking English as an Additional Language (EAL).

By acting quickly to narrow the "word gap" through early identification and a text-rich environment, we provide children with a secure platform to articulate their ideas clearly, preparing them for academic success and life-long well-being.

Writing

At our school, writing is an integral part of our curriculum, providing children with exciting opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills across all subjects.

We recognise that language is the bedrock of thinking and learning; therefore, we prioritise oral language as a prerequisite for writing. Our aim is for children to become confident, creative writers who find pleasure in the writing process while making consistent progress from their individual starting points.

To establish these strong foundations, our writing curriculum focuses on several core areas:

Our WOW Experiences

George the therapy dog listening to readers
Whole School - Author visit, 'Grandad Wheels'
World Book Day - Potato character Rainbow Fish
World Book Day - Potato Paddington character
World Book Day - Reading our favourite books in our pj's
Year 1 - Sharing books with Author, Rebecca Bishop
Year 2 - Visit to Stockton Heath Library
Year 2 - Visit to Stockton Heath Library
Year 2 - Visit to Stockton Heath Library
Year 2 - Spelling Bee Winners

Oral Rehearsal and Oracy - we understand that children who cannot yet speak in sentences are not yet ready to write in them. Through our Oracy Programme, children orally rehearse sentences before writing, using "Vocabulary Vines" from high-quality core texts to embed adventurous language.
Transcription (Handwriting) - we follow the Penpals for Handwriting scheme from Nursery to Year 2. This scheme provides a clear progression through five developmental stages, beginning with physical preparation - such as developing core strength and gross motor skills - and moving through securing correct letter formation to practicing speed and fluency.
Transcription (Spelling) - spelling is rooted in our Bug Club Phonics programme. In Reception and Year 1, children apply their phonic knowledge to segment spoken words into phonemes and represent them with the specific grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) they have been taught. In KS1 Children use Spelling Shed to further support these skills. This approach ensures children progress from phonically plausible attempts to accurately spelling the Year 1 and Year 2 common exception words and applying National Curriculum spelling rules.
Composition and Genre - our writing is anchored in high-quality literature, with units planned around core texts like The Night Pirates, Beegu, and The Dragon Machine. Children write for a range of purposes and audiences, progressing from simple labels and captions to more complex narratives, persuasive letters and non-chronological reports.
The Writing Process - we equip children with the skills to orally rehearse, plan, compose and evaluate their work. By Year 2, pupils are encouraged to independently plan, sequence ideas and edit their work for clarity, checking for correct grammar and punctuation.
Early Identification and Assessment - we use proportionate assessment and tools like WellComm screening to identify any speech and language barriers early. This ensures that children receive the necessary scaffolding to prevent gaps in foundational knowledge -such as pencil grip or letter formation - from widening as they progress.

By fostering a text-rich environment and providing frequent opportunities for meaningful writing, we ensure our children leave with the skills and confidence to articulate their ideas clearly and effectively.

Please click on the following link to watch an introduction to Penpals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsufRNXsl2M

To support our teaching of handwriting, we use a specific ‘letter patter’ for each letter to support children with letter formation. Please see below for our letter patter.

Penpals Letter Formation Patter

How to hold your Pencil