English

English is taught daily in each class, both in discrete lessons and across the curriculum.  We aim for children to see themselves as confident readers, writers and speakers, take pleasure in reading and writing and develop strong literacy skills that they can apply throughout their lives.

We place great importance on oracy, as spoken language helps children learn, communicate and express ideas clearly. Through discussion, storytelling, drama and presentations, children develop vocabulary, confidence in articulating their ideas and listen respectfully to others.

Phonics: We follow the Little Wandle Systematic Synthetic Phonics scheme to build strong phonics and early reading skills. Little Wandle is a method of learning centred around letter sounds and phonics, focusing on pure sounds and segmenting and blending. We aim to support all children to become confident readers, so create timely, small group intervention programmes for those who need it. Children are 'bench marked' termly to ensure that their reading and phonics levels match with the correct level of reading book.

The resources on this page will help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters: https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

Reading: In Owls and Woodpecker classes (Years 2-6), fluency and a love of reading is further developed through our whole-class reading approach, inspired by Mary Myatt's 'A Faster Read' project. Children are immersed in high-quality, challenging literature and engage in rich discussion to develop their vocabulary and comprehension. We use VIPERS (Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explain, Retrieve, Summarise) from the Literacy Shed to structure our guided reading lessons, ensuring children develop a full range of reading skills. 

Children are also encouraged to read for pleasure by selecting a 'sharing book' to take home from our extensive school library and to select a Library Book from the Wiltshire Library Bus that visits the school every two weeks.

Writing: Writing at Hindon empowers children with the knowledge, skills and creativity to communicate with confidence and purpose. Writing skills are embedded through a carefully designed cycle of modelling, planning, drafting, revising and publishing, enabling children to make meaningful progress as authors. Language development sits at the heart of our approach, with ambitious vocabulary explicitly taught and used confidently by both staff and pupils to strengthen communication. Engaging, purposeful teaching ignites children's imagination and gives them real reasons to write.

Spelling: We follow Spelling Zoo for national curriculum age-related spellings and children have their own individual spelling lists on their tables to support high frequency words and common exception words that they need to practise in free writing.

Handwriting

At Hindon School, we believe in the importance of making handwriting automatic so that all the focus of the brain can be on writing content.

We follow the Kinetic Letters programme to develop the required physical skills for handwriting. From EYFS, every opportunity is taken to develop the required body strength to enable pupils to develop effective and sustained handwriting techniques, whether that be in the classroom, in PE lessons, swimming lessons or when moving through the school.

We teach our pupils how to pick up and hold the pencil in a specific way, consistent across the school. 

Maths

Mathematics is taught every day across the school, using a wide variety of activities designed to build fluency, deepen understanding and support mastery. We want all pupils to develop a secure grasp of the number sense, to approach mathematical learning with curiosity, and to nurture a lasting enjoyment of maths and problem solving.

Within our carefully planned curriculum, pupils:

• Strengthen their fluency in core mathematical skills, building a deep understanding of key concepts through regular, varied practice. Over time, pupils encounter increasingly complex tasks that help them recall and apply knowledge quickly, accurately and with growing confidence.
• Think logically and communicate their ideas clearly, using precise mathematical vocabulary to articulate their reasoning. Pupils learn to follow lines of enquiry, spot patterns and relationships, and develop well-structured arguments, justifications or simple proofs to explain their thinking.
• Tackle a wide range of mathematical challenges, applying their learning to both familiar and unfamiliar problems with increasing sophistication. They break problems into manageable steps, choose efficient strategies and develop resilience—persevering when solutions are not immediately obvious and continually refining their approach.

We use the White Rose Maths small steps to structure and sequence learning across the school, providing a clear progression of concepts. However, our approach remains flexible to ensure that mixed-year groups are appropriately supported and challenged. The programme is enriched in a variety of ways to meet the needs of each cohort, helping us create curious, confident learners who enjoy exploring mathematical ideas.

Our structured progression ensures that children steadily broaden and deepen their knowledge, growing into capable, motivated and reflective mathematicians.