Phonics and Reading Report

Length of Visit: Half a day in school plus preparation and report writing (Autumn Visit)

Purpose of Visit: To review phonics and reading provision across the school

This visit consisted of:

· Learning walks to observe phonics provision in Reception and Year 1

· Phonics interventions for EYFS and KS1 learners

· Observing the youngest children read to familiar adults

· Learning walks to Year 4 and 6 to observe whole class reading in practice

· KS2 reading pupil voice activity

· Discussion with the phonics and reading leaders about curriculum intent, implementation and

impact

· A review of shared documentation

· A review of curriculum information on the school website.

· A review of current outcomes in reading related matters.

Main observations

Discussion with the leaders

The opportunity to learn about early phonics and reading provision in the school was explored with the Phonics leader, the Reading leader and the Headteacher.

Careful consideration and research went into the school’s choice of SSP – systematic synthetic phonics programme - which is Unlocking Letters and Sounds.  There is a clear rationale for its use.  It can be applied in a routine and systematic manner – fidelity to this was clearly observed in the classrooms.  It reduces workload for staff and eliminates cognitive load for the children.  The one-minute interventions work effectively to close learning gaps.  This was confirmed in practice during the learning walk.

Staff have focused on the bottom 20% of readers and appropriate support is provided for these children.  Children are grouped according to their phonic phase.  The phonics leader judges that current provision for the teaching of phonics is consistently good and better.  This was confirmed in the visit today.  The phonics leader’s view is informed by classroom drop ins, coaching, modelling and open professional dialogue in relation to high quality phonics provision.  Every adult has been trained in the delivery of the phonics programme.  Workshops are accessed online to ensure a high level of confidence in teacher delivery of the programme.  The rigorous and consistent approach is the factor that has contributed to the positive outcomes in phonics which in 2023 which were above the national and higher local standards.

In relation to the phonics screening check in 2023 in year 1, and the retakes in year 2, there were 7 children who did not achieve the expected standard (32 marks.) However, 3 children were very close and achieved 31 marks. 6/7 of these children have additional presenting needs.  The leaders intend to continue to focus on ensuring these children address the gaps in their phonic knowledge.

Parental engagement in the learning process is prioritised.  Parents communicate in the Reading Records and provide feedback.  A phonics workshop was delivered to the parents in September and a fluency one is forthcoming, planned for delivery in March 2024.  The phonics leader is reflecting on the use of video as a medium to teach, model, inform and engage parents still further in the reading process.

The school is aware that there are a cohort of current Year 3 pupils who require close monitoring, Reading outcomes for these children were below local and national standards.  

The PIRA (Progress in Reading Attainment) tool is being used to identify gaps in learning. 

The school is also participating in the HFL / EEF initiative to develop Reading Fluency.  This will provide additional focused support which will enable children to develop those higher order reading skills which contribute to fluency and comprehension.

The school promotes a love of reading through a variety of well-considered strategies.  This includes a wide selection of diverse texts and picture books to stimulate book talk, regular library visits, reading ambassadors, books being awarded for birthdays which then enhance the class libraries.  For the youngest children, books, stories and rhymes are prioritised to develop a love of language.  Books are matched to the phonic phases the children are learning.  Children enjoy storytime, the book corners and a range of texts matched to the topics being covered.

The tracking of each individual child’s early reading skills is forensic.  There is a clear understanding of what each child has achieved and what their next steps are.  This was evidenced in the phonics tracking system which was shared, as well as the targeted personalised precision teaching for reach child where gaps have been identified.  Children have, where appropriate, an individual phonics plan.  This was observed to be systematic, accurate and time efficient.  This is the lever to improving reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension.

The leaders plan further development of early language skills and have focused on the correct priorities for improvement. Well structured actions are planned to:

-  improve writing outcomes at the expected level and greater depth across the school

-  embed and sustain recent developments in the school’s synthetic phonics programme

-  accelerate progress for specific pupils in years 2 and 3 by implementing the HfL / EEE Reading Fluency project

-  continue to refine high quality whole class guided reading in KS2

Website representation of Phonics and Reading

The information that is uploaded is comprehensive and helpful in relation to phonics and reading.  The reading passports identify the quality texts that the school has selected to use in each year group.  It is helpful to have these mapped out in this way to ensure that there is access to age-appropriate high quality text models which will subsequently impact on the quality and range of writing.  In relation to phonics there are a variety of relevant resources which explain elements of the school’s selected scheme.  This includes a correct pronunciation guide, handwriting models for the phonic phases, the overview for the teaching of Unlocking Letters and Sound.  In addition there is an excellent parental presentation on phonics and clear guidance on the use of wordless books.  For both phonics and reading there is helpful guidance provided on how parents can support the teaching and learning process at home.  This informs and strengthens parental partnership.

Discussion with learners

A discussion took place with a small group of pupils from KS2 who clearly enjoy and value their reading opportunities at school.  They articulated their perspectives with clarity and enthusiasm and were a real joy to work with.  The enjoy reading a range of different genres such as mysteries, adventure, factual and biographical texts. 

They value reading because they enjoy following and anticipating the storyline, building a picture of the characters that are portrayed and they recognise that various forms of reading can expand their knowledge base.  They explained that they have numerous opportunities to read within the school day.  This might be in the quiet time after lunch, in the reflection corner of the classroom and at breaktimes.  They value the fact that they have choices around their reading.  

They use their reading skills to research, to interrogate text and to infer knowledge.  They explained that the characteristics of a good reader mean that good reading habits are established.  A good reader reads every day and can communicate information in a clear and articulate manner.  A good reader shows perseverance and wants to improve their reading skills by showing determination.  They know when they are reading well.  

The internal reward system of obtaining stamps is motivating to them to get better at reading.  

They explained that good readers use their phonic skills of decoding and break each word down.  They understand that being an effective reader improves the quality and range of writing skills because they are exposed to rich and diverse texts, written in different authorial styles.  They also appreciate that reading provides a curiosity about words and enables them to improve spelling accuracy.  They understand the importance of reading and could explain that it widens the vocabulary range and is an essential life skill.  They have a wide range of reading interests which include the Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson novels, texts that are written in diary form, the Butterfly Lion, Sherlock Holmes and David Walliams.  These pupils speak with confidence and passion about their reading interests and value the priority placed on the importance of it by the school.  

The reading leader engaged the children in relevant purposeful discussion which provided good evidence of well-planned reading provision at the school.

Reading and phonics learning walks

Strong and effective provision was observed in the classrooms visited.  There was the opportunity to see first-hand the quality of phonics and reading provision across the school.  This involved visits to Reception and Year 1 and in Key Stage 2 visits to Year 4 and Year 6.  The precision teaching opportunities to address gaps in phonics learning were also observed as part of this overview.

The review, teach, practice, apply strategy was well embedded in EYFS and Year 1.

The approach to teaching phonics was systematic and demonstrated fidelity to the systematic synthetic phonics programme the school has selected to use. The children recognised letter sounds, demonstrated rapid recall, could recognise common exception words and self-correct where appropriate.  Teacher modelling was skilled.  Actions helped the children to consolidate the learning of specific sounds.  They demonstrated blending skills and could provide context in sentence form around specific taught words.  Correct letter formation was taught and practised by the children.  Children reinforce their learning by instructing the robot.  Skilled behaviour management techniques were observed in EYFS.  All activities proceeded at a slick pace. The teacher and the teaching assistants work in close partnership to ensure a highly effective learning environment. In the Year 1 class there were two children with additional presenting needs and the teaching assistant was focusing on enabling their participation.   Children demonstrate enjoyment and engagement which progresses the learning efficiently. 

Precision teaching was highly skilled, concise and systematic focused on individual needs identified through the assessment process.  Staff demonstrate determination that every child will learn to read with fluency.  There are individualised plans for children with gaps in their phonic knowledge tailored to individual need.   Staff are well trained and confident in their delivery of effective intervention in a time efficient manner.  Children demonstrated that they could revisit and recall sounds, could apply sound buttons and consolidate learning that had previously been less secure.  This strategy enables rapid improvement and illustrates the school’s determination that every child, irrespective of barriers will learn to read effectively.  A child was observed reading an unfamiliar text to a familiar adult, The teaching assistant was skilled at including appropriate book talk around the text.  The child demonstrated that blending was effective and the book was matched to the current phonic phase.

A brief view of reading in KS2 showed children in year 4 retrieving information from a text.  They had been taught about identifying key pieces of information to support comprehension strategies.  Children were also being encouraged to infer information from a text, so this was developing their higher order, sequential, reading fluency skills.  In Year 6 the text focus was “The Final Year” – highly relevant and engaging for the learners.  We observed skilled, intuitive questioning from the teacher which elicited, articulate, responsive learners.  One child was able to explain, with clarity, the connection between Skellig and The Final Year which was so skilful.  The use of talk partners enabled effective collaboration and sharing of ideas.  At the point of time we were in the classroom, children were analysing the craft of the author through the use of vocabulary.