Phonics
Our principal aim is to develop the children’s phonological awareness, ability to segment and blend words and read common exception words on sight - to become fluent readers! Our teaching at all levels includes:
Consistency in the approach to teaching phonics throughout EYFS, KS1 and KS2 where appropriate
Rigorous planning, assessment, and tracking
Daily whole class, group and individual work
Quality first teaching to support motivation
We strive to ensure that all children leave our school reading and writing (including spelling) to the best of their ability. We aim that all children will have a good word recognition, language comprehension and they have developed a lifelong love for reading.
In September 2022 we launched our new phonics programme: Read, Write Inc.
In Read Write Inc. Phonics lessons, children learn the English alphabetic code: the 150+ graphemes that represent 44 speech sounds. They rapidly learn sounds and the letter, or groups of letters, they need to represent them, in three sets of Speed Sounds Lessons. Simple and enjoyable mnemonics help all children to grasp the letter-sound correspondences quickly. Knowledge is taught and consolidated every day. High frequency words that are not phonically regular are taught as ‘tricky’ words and are practised frequently.
Lively phonics books are closely matched to the children’s increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words so that, early on, children experience plenty of success. Repeated readings of the texts support their increasingly fluent decoding.
Reading
Children read their story book three times. One the first read, children focus on accurate word reading; the second, on developing fluency; and the third, on comprehension.
Accuracy
Children learn to:
Read new sounds and review previously taught sounds
Sound out the names of characters and unfamiliar words
Understand the meanings of new words
Read the story (first read)
Fluency
Children learn to:
Read the words in the story speedily
Track the story
Read the story with increased speed (second read)
Comprehension
Children learn to:
Predict the outcome, after listening to a story introduction
Discuss and compare key moments in the story
Read the story with a storyteller’s voice (third read)
Answer questions about the story
Read the same story at home
Build background knowledge, ready to read their next storybook.
Groupings and Assessments
Children are assessed and grouped according to their phonic knowledge. Each child reads books that match their phonic knowledge. Ongoing assessment means that groups are constantly adjusted to ensure the best progress for each child.
Children in Year 1 will complete the Phonic Screening Check during the summer term. We strive for all of our children to pass the Phonic Screening Check and additional support will be put in place for those children who require it. Children who do not achieve the pass mark in Year 1 will retake the test in the following academic year, when they are in Year 2.
