Intent

Why do we teach this? Why do we teach it the way we do?

At North Leigh School we are committed to the delivery of excellence in the teaching of Early Reading and Phonics. We aim to work with each child so that they are able to read with fluency and develop a love of reading that will stay with our children all their lives. We intend for all our children to become enthusiastic and motivated readers, developing their confidence reading a wide variety of genres and text types. They will have the necessary skills to decode words in order to be able to read fluently with a good understanding of what they have read. We will encourage a love of literature and an enjoyment of reading for pleasure, as well as using reading as a tool to provoke thought within children.

Our focus is on fluency, comprehension and enjoyment. Good quality phonics teaching allows the child to be secure in the skills of word recognition and decoding which allows children to read fluently.

We are ambitious for our pupils aiming for the Reception children to reach Phase 4, Year 1 children to reach Phase 5 and Year 2 children to move beyond the phonics scheme as soon as possible moving on to becoming age appropriate fluent readers.

We believe that reading opens the door to learning and therefore it is vital that we as educators do everything we possibly can to ensure that EVERY child will learn to read. We are determined to teach every single child to read, regardless of their background, need or abilities.

Implementation

What do we teach? What does this look like?

North Leigh School follows the systematic approach laid out in the validated Little Wandle Phonics Programme. In line with the School’s Policy and commitment to excellence in Phonics, each class in EYFS and Year 1 will be taught phonics as a discrete lesson every day and phonics teaching will be included as part of teaching and learning throughout other curriculum areas on a daily basis.

In EYFS and Year 1, phonics is taught as a whole class for the first part of the lesson and then children split into differentiated groups for the remainder of the lesson. Children take part in small group Little Wandle reading lessons three times a week using the same book. On each occasion, children revisit the graphemes, tricky words and vocabulary they encounter and the sessions always follow the same sequence, practicing skills: decoding, prosody and comprehension. Children identified as falling behind receive daily catch up sessions.

In Year 2, phase five phonics is taught in daily whole class phonics sessions, reinforced through English and other curriculum lessons (new spelling patterns). The children complete the Little Wandle programme as appropriate and transition into a guided and / or whole class reading sessions. Interventions take place for those children who have been identified as not ‘keeping up’.

Phonic skills will also continue to be taught in Key Stage 2 to support those children who do not yet have the phonic knowledge and skills they need. In addition to this phonics continues to be taught throughout KS2 as new spelling patterns are introduced, building on previous learning with reference to ‘Grow the Code’ phonics friezes which are displayed in each classroom. Coloured reading bands continue to be used into Lower KS2 to support children with their reading choices that match their ability. Additionally, these children identified as working below the expected standard in reading follow the Little Wandle Rapid Catch up and the Nessy programme in class.

Age Related Expectations for the end of the school year:

By the end of EYFS children should:

• Read and understand simple sentences
• Use phonic knowledge to decode common words and read them aloud accurately
• Confidently read by sight the Phase 2, 3 and 4 irregular common words
• Use phonic knowledge to write words in a way which matches how the sounds are said
• Write some irregular common words.

By the end of Year 1 children should:

• Apply phonic knowledge and skill as the prime approach to reading unfamiliar words that are not completely decodable
• Read many frequently-encountered words at a glance
• Read phonically decodable three-syllable words
• Read a range of age-appropriate texts fluently
• Demonstrate understanding of age-appropriate texts
• Read decodable words that end –s, –es, -ing, -ed, -er, -est
• Say the correct sound to grapheme for all the 40+ phonemes up to Phase 5.

By the end of Year 2 children should:

• Read accurately most words of two or more syllables
• Read most words containing common suffixes
• Read and spell most common exception words for Year 2
• Read words accurately and fluently without overt sounding and blending
• Sound out most unfamiliar words accurately, without hesitation
• Segment spoken words into phonemes and represent these by graphemes.

Regular 6 week phonic assessments are carried out in each class. In addition to this formative assessments are carried out as part of daily catch up sessions. Alongside in class catch up sessions, our HLTA also teaches after school catch up sessions with targeted groups of children. SEND children in each year group are included in the whole class lessons and have daily catch up sessions 1:1

Regular Phonics Monitoring is carried out by the Phonics Lead. As part of their CPD all staff have revisited Little Wandle training and videos since the scheme has been introduced to support their teaching and confidence in delivery.

Phonics is a vital step in learning to read and is taught alongside a quality Literacy curriculum which includes exciting and thought provoking books, teaching that includes drama and role play, opportunities for children to choose and enjoy a wide range of books and an inviting book area in every classroom.

Impact

What will this look like?

• 80% of children in Reception achieve Literacy Early Learning Goal
• Children in receipt of catch up sessions begin to close the gap
• Year 1 phonics check is at least in line with national average (80%)
• Reading levels at the end of KS1 at or above the National Average.

An emphasis on quality Early Reading and Phonics means that by the time children leave our school they will:

• Have the necessary skills to decode words in order to be able to read fluently, with a secure understanding of what they have read
• Be enthusiastic and motivated readers who are confident and will enjoy reading a wide variety of genres and text types
• Enjoy reading and can write confidently for different purposes and audiences
• Be able to effectively apply spelling rules and patterns they have been taught
• Have a wide reading vocabulary that they use within their writing.

We hope that through nurturing and challenging our children, they will move on from us to further their education and learning with a passion for English and high aspirations that will travel with them and so be able to reach their full potential in life.

 

 

'I like it when we go to the library and Angela reads us a story' Reception child