'To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark' - Victor Hugo

Reading Intent  

Reading is given a high priority in Buckland’s curriculum, as it the ability to read and understand which opens up learning for children.  Our main aim is for our pupils to leave school being children who love to read and who want to be life-long readers.  We want them to enjoy a whole variety of genres (including poetry) and recognise that reading can also be purposeful and that they have a range of strategies and skills, that they have honed, available when they need them.  We want children to use reading as a way of broadening their horizons, recognising that they can enter different worlds and other people’s worlds which will help them relate to others, be empathetic towards people by sharing and developing their emotional responses to what they read.  By the time children leave Buckland, they will be more than competent readers who can recommend books to their peers, have a thirst for reading a range of genres and participate in discussions about books, including evaluating an author’s use of language and the impact this can have on the reader.  

Writing and Spelling Intent  

At Buckland we aim to send our children onto secondary school with the view that writing is an enjoyable and purposeful skill, seeing themselves as confident and successful writers. We want the children to have the skills and confidence to write within a range of genres and within the different subject areas as well as writing for the pleasure of it. The children will leave having clear drafting, redrafting and editing skills so that they recognize that writing is a creative process that can be developed and improved. We want children to recognize that through their writing, they can create images in their reader’s minds as well as evoke emotions and that this process can help them as authors to understand others’ attitudes and feelings. We want children to be excited by words and develop an understanding of language as a growing and changing concept as well as the knowledge of spelling rules and their exceptions. 

Speaking and listening Intent 

We work hard to make sure that all of our children leave our school with the ability and confidence to communicate clearly to a range of people with fluent speech, correct word formation and knowing the appropriate register in which to speak to their audience.  We want all children to be able to actively show they listen to others and respond appropriately, building on ideas, concepts and opinions with courtesy and respect.  We intend that all children will be able to express themselves – their thoughts, feelings and understanding through well thought out sentences and paragraphs.  We want to provide opportunities for those interested in more formal speech to be able to practice this skill whether it is in competition or presenting themselves to unknown adults. 

'The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words' - William H. Gass