Knowles Primary School, Milton Keynes

After more than a decade of teaching Literacy the same way, through a tried and tested storytelling approach, we regularly saw results inline with and above national from EYFS-Year 6 year on year. However, increasingly we felt the need to further enrich our reading and writing curriculum with more high quality stories, poems and non-fiction texts from published authors which were engaging and relevant to our children. Our search led us to the Literacy Tree and it was the best thing we ever did. 
The injection of a vast array of high quality, relevant and engaging stories and poems that reflect our diverse community and children has been transformative. Children are excited for each literacy lesson and their outcomes are impressive. Children are writing confidently independently, developing their author's voice and exploring a multitude of different text types, guided skillfully by teachers, who are in turn, supported by the high quality planning that accompanies the curriculum. 

Staff have engaged with the curriculum well and have been impressed both with the impact on children’s engagement in lessons and their outcomes. The ongoing CPD opportunities offered by the Literacy Tree have been well received and reassure staff of how best to implement the curriculum in their classrooms. The high quality planning has also greatly supported staff wellbeing and workload, providing an expert voice in how to provide effective writing opportunities through each text. 

We are excited to also be beginning to adopt the ‘Literary Leaves’ element of the Literacy Tree for our guided reading, replacing a traditional carousel approach in KS2. The high quality, up-to-date books that accompany the curriculum are the talk of the school and children are eager to hear what texts they will explore next. 

We would highly recommend other schools to take the leap and see the impact of the Literacy Tree curriculum in your own setting.  

Charlotte Taylor

Assistant Head