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Phonics & Reading
Phonics & Reading
At Cottingley Primary Academy we believe that reading is the key to unlocking learning. Our vision is to make reading exciting and engaging for the children in our academy thus creating a love of reading which will last a lifetime. Research has shown that reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success (OECD 2002).
We are committed to providing children with the skill, the will and the time to read.
Phonics
Daily phonics lessons
In school we follow Read, Write, Inc for our phonics lessons. Every class teacher in Early Years and KS1, along with some of our Learning Support Leaders, deliver streamed daily phonics lessons. If your child takes part in Read, Write, Inc and you'd like to know more about it, please speak to Miss Cater who will be more than happy to help.
Phonics catch up
We also use the RWI 1-2-1 tutoring programme in KS1 and LKS2, along with the Fresh Start intervention in Years Five and Six, to help any pupils catch up who are finding phonics difficult. We use our in school assessment systems to identify children who need these programmes but if you feel your child may benefit from extra support then please speak to Miss Cater, Mrs Snowden or Mrs O’Carroll who will listen and try to build in the extra help that your child needs.
What happens next?
As your child completes their work on phonics (expected by Spring term in Y2) they will move on to the Read, Write, Inc spelling programme, to learn more about spelling strategies, patterns and rules.
Parent workshops and helping your child
We run a series of workshops throughout the school year to help you to be able to support your child with their phonics and spelling - please keep your eye out for letters and Marvellous Me messages regarding this.
We understand that it can be tricky to know how to support your child with phonics, especially if it isn't the strategy that you used when you learned to read, so, for help with phoneme pronunciation, and guidance on some of the terminology your child might use, please log on to:
http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-site/expert-help/phonics-made-easy
The phonics screening check
At the end of Y1, each child is required to sit the phonics screening check. If your child is in Y1 you will be provided with lots of information regarding this throughout the year but to support with any questions you might have now then please check out the link below:
Spelling
Following the end of Read, Write, Inc phonics (usually at the end of Key Stage 1), the children move on to the Read, Write, Inc spelling programme.
In Key Stage 2, children will complete spelling activities to learn about different spelling rules and patterns in class. At the end of each half term, the children will have a Spelling Assessment based on the rules that they have learnt throughout the half term.
For the National Curriculum Years 3 and 4 and Year 5 and 6 spelling lists, please see the links below.
All children in school have a personal login for Spelling Shed (https://www.spellingshed.com/) This is a great website full of lots of games for the children to use to practise their spellings. Children in KS2 access Spelling Shed weekly as part of their Personalised Learning Time (PLT). This helps them to remember previous spelling learning and fill any gaps that they might have. The website is available at home too so please encourage your child to get involved!
Reading Routines
Whole School
Daily Reading Lessons
Reception and KS1
Alongside daily phonics lessons, the children in Reception and KS1 also complete daily reading sessions. Each week, a text is selected based around what the children are learning or links to the text type they are learning about. Each day, they focus on a new skill to enhance their understanding of the text:
Monday: Fluency
Tuesday: Vocabulary
Wednesday: Retrieval
Thursday: Inference (plus either prediction, explain, find or summarise)
Friday: Reading for Pleasure activity
In Year 2, the children will move on to our ARK reading curriculum in Summer 2 to prepare them for moving up to KS2.
KS2
In KS2, all of the children now complete the ARK Mastery Units of Reading. Throughout the half term, each class will work through a text and look at it in depth. They will build on their fluency, vocabulary and retrieval skills as well as inference, summarising and predicting. There are also supplemented non-fiction texts throughout linked to the texts to provide opportunity for them to investigate different text types.
Storytime
Storytime takes place in every class every day. This is a chance for children to relax and listen to an age appropriate text being read in an exciting way to get them hooked on books! In KS2 a class novel is read during Storytime. In EYFS and KS1, the teacher chooses a range of texts based on the current topic, the children’s interests and their own favourite stories.
Reading for Pleasure
Reading for Pleasure is at the heart of our reading curriculum as we develop children’s love of reading.
In every classroom and shared area, there is a dedicated reading area where children can get comfy and enjoy a text. In the class reading area, the teacher specially selects and organises a variety of texts including: recommendations, fiction books, picture books, poetry & plays, non-fiction texts and things that aren't book. Each class also has a dedicated area at the front of the classroom with books the children have previously read through their time at CPA. There are also books spread throughout the classroom linked to the foundation subjects being taught at the time.
There is also dedicated Reading for Pleasure time within each class. During this time, the children can read independently or with a friend; they can read at their table or get comfy somewhere else; they can read a picture book, poetry, explore non-fiction or get hooked into a novel.
The Library
Our library is a bright, inviting space full of books! Every class visits the library at least once a week and every child can choose any book from the library- fiction, poetry or non-fiction- that they can enjoy alone or with an adult at home. The library books are not levelled in order to allow the children freedom to enjoy a range of different texts.
Home reading
EYFS and KS1 Home Reading
Nursery
In Nursery, the focus is on developing a love of books, seeing books as a social activities and understanding “book behaviours”. There is a sharing library of books which children can choose with their parent/carer and borrow and swap as often as they would like. We encourage you to take at least one a week.
Reception
Phonics groups
Children in Set A, B and C are sent flash cards home via Marvellous Me to practise with an adult.
Ditty group: Children in the ditty group are sent home with a ditty worksheet daily
All children
Shared books: A book that is not phonetically decodable which is selected by the class teacher
Bedtime books: This is a book that is selected by the children to take home and enjoy
KS1
Each child will take home four reading books a week:
RWI phonics book: This book will be given and changed by the child’s phonics teacher each week. This book will have already been covered during that week's phonics lesson to support them in developing independence and practising the sounds they already know.
RWI book bag book: This will be a book that is at the child’s phonics level and covers the sounds they have already learnt and they can therefore read independently.
Sharing book: This is a colour banded book that has been matched to the child’s ability by their teacher. However, because this book is not phonically decodable, the child may need to read it with an adult.
A free-choice library book.
KS2
Children in KS2 will take home two books a week:
Accelerated Reader
At the beginning of the half term, children complete a Star Reader test which provides them with a reading age and a ZPD. They use their ZPD to support them in selecting a book that is appropriate for their reading age.
Children have the opportunity to read these books during dedicated Accelerated Reading time and also take it home to read independently to within an adult (for at least 10 minutes)
Once they have read the book, they are able to take a quiz on it. If they score over 85% they will receive a stamp which contributes to them earning a free book.
A free-choice library book
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