Foundational Skills

The Foundational Skills Curriculum is implemented through highly consistent, evidence-informed pedagogy and rigorous curriculum design.

1. Sequenced progression and curriculum coherence

• The curriculum is fully mapped from early development to Year 3, ensuring clear small steps and cumulative knowledge building
• Teachers have a precise understanding of ‘what comes before and what comes next, enabling responsive teaching and targeted support
• Curriculum design is tightly aligned to:
• EYFS Framework
• National Curriculum
• DfE Writing Framework (transcription, sentence construction, composition)

2. Oracy-led, language-rich classrooms

• Oracy is prioritised as the foundation for all learning
• Pupils engage in:
• Explicit vocabulary instruction
• Structured talk routines
• Opportunities to explain, justify and reason
• This directly supports progression into Year 3 expectations of reasoning, explanation and academic language

3. Evidence-informed reading and writing

• Reading is taught through:
• Systematic phonics
• Explicit fluency and comprehension teaching
• Writing is built through:
• Strong transcription (handwriting, spelling, sentence accuracy)
• Oral rehearsal prior to writing
• Structured progression towards extended and independent composition
• By Year 3, pupils:
• Write with fluency, structure and purpose
• Apply grammar, spelling and sentence construction consistently

4. Adaptive practice

• Adaptations include:
• Pre-teaching vocabulary
• Chunking learning
• Structured modelling and repetition
• Pupils with SEND:
• Access the same ambitious curriculum
• Are supported to achieve independence, not dependence

5. Explicit teaching of behaviour and self-regulation

• The curriculum explicitly teaches:
• Attention, listening and focus
• Emotional regulation
• Independence and resilience
• By Year 3, pupils:
• Sustain attention in extended learning
• Plan, organise and complete tasks independently

6. Continuous assessment and responsive teaching

• Assessment is:
• Ongoing and formative
• Teachers adapt teaching in real time to ensure:
• Misconceptions are addressed quickly
• Learning is secured before moving on
• Leaders ensure strong consistency and sharp identification of need

The impact of the Foundational Skills Curriculum is seen in pupils’ fluency, independence, depth of understanding and readiness for future learning.

1. Strong and sustained progress for all pupils

• Pupils move securely through the progression, demonstrating:
• Fluent communication
• Secure reading and writing
• Strong mathematical understanding

2. Exceptional outcomes for disadvantaged and SEND pupils

• Gaps are identified early and diminish rapidly
• Pupils demonstrate:
• Increasing independence
• Secure access to the full curriculum
• Provision reflects national ambition for inclusive, high-quality teaching

3. High levels of communication, language and thinking

• Pupils:
• Speak fluently and confidently
• Use ambitious vocabulary
• Explain and justify ideas using reasoning

4. Strong writing outcomes (DfE-aligned)

• Pupils demonstrate:
• Accurate spelling and transcription
• Fluent handwriting
• Increasingly detailed and structured composition

5. Strong behaviour and self-regulation

• Pupils:
• Sustain attention
• Follow complex instructions
• Regulate behaviour independently
• Learning is characterised by:
• Resilience
• Independence
• Engagement

6. Readiness for Key Stage 2 and beyond

• By the end of Year 3, pupils:
• Read fluently and with deep understanding
• Write with increasing sophistication and independence
• Apply mathematical reasoning flexibly
• Demonstrate strong executive functioning and learning behaviours

Pupils are therefore exceptionally well prepared to succeed across Key Stage 2 and beyond.

We prioritise oracy as the cornerstone of learning. Through structured talk, explicit teaching of speaking and listening skills, and high expectations for vocabulary use, pupils learn to articulate ideas clearly, reason verbally, and engage in collaborative dialogue. Engagement is expected by all pupils through a ‘No Hands Up’ along with my turn, your turn and say it again better. This provides essential foundations for reading comprehension, writing fluency, and wider cognitive development.

Integrated Oracy Framework

Vocabulary is taught explicitly and systematically, which is supported through the use of dual coded Widgit symbols or real life examples, where more appropriate. We identify and prioritise tiered vocabulary, threading it through Reading, Writing, Maths and the wider curriculum. Repeated encounters with new words, through rich texts, oral rehearsal, and application in writing. This ensure pupils develop both breadth and depth of language, supporting not only literacy but also conceptual understanding. As a result, this links wider curriculum vocabulary to core and across Foundation subjects. 

Our approach to phonics is rigorous, sequential and aligned to a validated SSP programme. Daily Read, Write, Inc. lessons follow a consistent structure, with clear modelling, extensive practice, and rapid intervention for pupils who need additional support, through the school’s 1:1 tutoring, Virtual Classroom, Pinny time, Speed Minutes and ‘Wobbly “Wallets’. We ensure children secure the graphemes needed early so they can read fluently, access knowledge-rich texts, and develop a love of reading.

Handwriting is explicitly taught to develop automaticity, legibility and fluency. We build competence through short, frequent practice, beginning with correct grip, sitting position and letter formation before moving to joins and fluent cursive writing. The goal is for handwriting to become effortless, freeing cognitive load for spelling, composition, and deeper thinking, with the high expectations maintained across all writing opportunities.

Spelling is taught systematically, connecting phonics knowledge with morphology, etymology and spelling conventions. Pupils explore patterns, rules, and word structure, applying knowledge in meaningful contexts. Regular retrieval practice strengthens long-term recall, enabling pupils to write with accuracy and increasing independence.

Sentence-level work is central to early writing. Through modelling, oral rehearsal, deliberate practice, and shared construction, pupils learn how sentences are formed, varied, and improved. Pupils are taught to hold a sentence and practise sentence writing through daily dictation in Phonic lessons. We teach grammar in context, focusing on meaning and clarity. As pupils gain confidence, they learn to extend, combine and manipulate sentences to express increasingly sophisticated ideas.

We build number sense through conceptual understanding, fluency and mathematical reasoning. Pupils develop a secure grasp of number relationships, place value, and the structures of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. High-quality models, manipulatives, and representations support understanding, while daily practice and Maths starters strengthens recall of fact families and flexibility in thinking. This is further enhanced through the KS1 Number Sense programme and the looping of worked examples on the interactive white board.