Phonics and Reading
Phonics and Early Reading
Intent
We believe that for all our children at Parklee Community School to become fluent readers and writers, Phonics must be taught through a systematic and structured Phonics programme. Therefore, we provide engaging Phonics lessons. We also value and encourage the pupils to read for enjoyment and recognise that this starts with the foundations of acquiring letter sounds, segmenting and blending skills. Our Phonics teaching starts in Nursery and follows a very specific sequence that allows our children to build on their previous phonic knowledge and master specific phonic strategies as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words that they might discover. We also model these strategies in shared reading and writing both inside and outside of the Phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on the development of language skills in lessons and through continuous provision in Early Years and Key Stage One for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for Reading and Writing in all subjects.
Implementation
Early Reading and Phonics are prioritised to allow pupils to access the full curriculum. In order to build secure blending and segmenting skills, children must be fully immersed in a strong foundation of early Phonics in their early years (Nursery and Reception) and experience an effectively taught synthetics Phonics curriculum in Reception and Key Stage One. Phonics is taught daily and we follow a rigorous and sequential approach that develops pupils’ fluency, confidence and enjoyment in Reading and Writing. We use the Bug Club Phonics for the phonics phases 1-5 and the Phonics Shed scheme for Phase 6. Our Bug Club reading scheme is also supplemented with Oxford Reading Tree and systematic synthetic phonics resources to help support our children as they learn to hear, say, read and write sounds and words, captions and sentences. Phonics lessons follow the Revisit, Teach, Practice and Apply format. Phonics lessons are fast-paced and repetitive in order to introduce, recall and embed learning. At all stages, Phonics attainment is assessed via Phonics Tracker, and gaps are addressed quickly and effectively for all pupils with interventions are planned for those children who are working below expected levels. Pupils have regular reading sessions with an adult to ensure pupils are regularly practicing and applying their Phonics knowledge. Children are matched with phonetically decodable reading books which match their current Phonics ability.
Impact
At Parklee Community School we have a strong focus on ensuring that younger children gain Phonics knowledge and the language comprehension necessary to read, as well as the skills to communicate, giving them the foundations for future learning. Through the teaching of systematic Phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One. This way, children can focus on developing their fluency and comprehension as they move through the school. Attainment in Reading is measured using the statutory assessments at the end of Reception, Key Stage One and Two. These results are measured against the reading attainment of children nationally. Attainment in Phonics is measured by the Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1. However, we firmly believe that reading is the key to all learning and so the impact of our Phonics curriculum goes beyond the results of the statutory assessment.
Phonics Screening Sample Materials
Key Stage 2
Children who still need extra support to develop their phonic knowledge across Key 2 are identified and targeted for intervention. There are a range of intervention strategies including Bug Club Phonics and Sounds Write, which teachers will use and the most appropriate one is selected once a child’s needs have been assessed.
Support for Spelling Document
https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/687/7/01109-2009PDF-EN_01_Redacted.pdf
Reading Schemes:
The school uses the Bug Club Phonics reading scheme supplemented with Oxford Reading Tree for EYFS / KS1. The children have access to the Bug Club Phonics reading scheme both with physical books and online book resources.
As children move into Key stage 2 the Bug Club and Oxford Reading Tree Scheme is supplemented with various other reading spines including ‘Tree Tops’, ‘Songbirds’ and various books from recognised children’s authors including classical literature. Both Key Stage One and Two have libraries as well as smaller libraries in classrooms.
Regular reading at home and reading to adults in school is promoted throughout the school and various reading incentive schemes are used to increase participation. Reading awards are used throughout school weekly and posted on Class DOJO.
Click here for the staff 'MASKED READER' Competition!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KDW7p99c8X_98LC7d4J8Ts3XflYns8JC/view?usp=drivesdk
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