Phonics

We believe that every child has the right to become a reader.

It is our intention that Burford children will receive daily, robust, consistent high-quality phonics teaching. Children will begin their phonics teaching as soon as they enter F1. Classrooms, outdoor areas and learning environments will support the children's phonic teaching. Children will all have access to fully decodable high-quality phonics books that support their learning.

At Burford, we follow the Sounds-Write scheme, validated by the DfE.

Reading

At Burford, we are proud to say that reading is at the heart of everything we do. We aim to select engaging, aspirational texts that are relevant to the children’s lives, featuring characters and settings that represent our children’s diverse range of backgrounds. Our approach balances the need to develop reading comprehension and reading fluency, understanding that children need to be automatic, fluid readers first in order to enjoy and comprehend what they are reading.

We want our children to be empowered, opinionated readers who have the skills necessary to put their reading to good use as they grow older. Our children know that they could become authors one day and that this is a career path to aspire to. As adults, we model and promote good habits and attitudes towards reading, and always look for reading opportunities throughout the wider curriculum, including special events and experiences.

Writing

At Burford, we have designed an engaging writing curriculum which enables our learners to become competent, enthusiastic and creative writers by the time they leave us to continue their learning journey at secondary school. We ensure children have opportunities to write in a range of contexts and genres and, where possible and effective, make meaningful links to the world around them. Our writing is purposeful and is focused in audience and impact – who are we writing for and what do we want our writing to achieve?