At Matthew Arnold reading plays a key part of the curriculum, including; reading for pleasure, guided reading, whole class reading, as well as teaching reading and comprehension skills. All pupils at Matthew Arnold are encouraged to read for pleasure and each class has a dedicated reading area stocked with quality, age appropriate texts aimed to engage a range of readers. We also use Literacy Counts: Ready, Steady Write to deliver our English curriculum, which instills a love of reading in our pupils.  Ready, Steady Write is comprehensive and evidence based. It provides a sequenced, ambitious curriculum, that places quality literature at its core. Our units have been carefully mapped out to match the entire statutory curriculum for writing.  

Our writing curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children.  We follow the award-winning Ready Steady Write from Literacy Counts to develop confident, independent and successful writers with high aspirations.

Our writing curriculum is research-informed and impact-proven, carefully designed to support all children to master the foundational skills and write for a clear audience and purpose. Through the use of high-quality, vocabulary-rich texts, we provide exciting and meaningful reasons to write.

Children are immersed in literature and taught to craft their writing with precision, using a range of pedagogical approaches, including sentence accuracy, modelled writing and shared writing, as well as regular opportunities for editing.  

We value spoken language as a foundation for writing. Through structured talk, drama and vocabulary exploration, children learn how to organise and express their ideas clearly before writing them down. Our aim is for every child – regardless of need – to write fluently and take pride in their work. We want our pupils to leave primary school as enthusiastic writers, ready for the next stage of their education.  

Our spelling curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children. We follow the award-recognised Ready Steady Spell by Literacy Counts to ensure that all pupils become fluent, accurate spellers. Our spelling curriculum is research-informed and impact-proven, helping children secure the essential skills and strategies they need to spell confidently across the curriculum. Through engaging activities, consistent teaching routines and regular opportunities to revisit prior learning, we help children move spelling knowledge into their long-term memory. 

Our aim is to build confident writers who are equipped with the tools they need to communicate clearly and effectively. Spelling is taught in a clear and systematic way, with regular reviews and assessments. Additional support is provided through Ready Steady Spell: Go sessions, which offer targeted intervention for pupils who need further consolidation.