Phonics

Pupils will develop their phonic knowledge through the teaching of phonics following the Essential Letters and Sounds Programme (ELS). This is a DfE approved programme, which will provide our children with a consistent and systematic programme for learning to read. 

Children take part in daily Phonics lessons in their classes and will be taught the skills to read effectively. We assess children’s reading skills every 6 weeks and provide extra sessions for children who require extra support. 

The books that children read in school and at home are matched to our Reading/ Phonics Programme, and therefore will be exactly linked to each child’s reading ability.

They will take two books home a week:

• A  fully decodable book  for your child to practise their learnt reading skills at home. It will have an owl sticker on it. This is the book that we would like you to support your child to read. It will contain written sounds and harder to read and spell words that your child has already learnt in school. Your child will have initially looked at it in school before taking it home. For this reason, this book will appear easier for your child to read than the levelled books we used to send home with children. They are expected to read this book up to 4 times to promote fluency and expression. Recent research shows that this is the best way to help children to learn to read. 

• A  shared reading book. This maybe a library book, a high-quality picture book or another reading book that is not fully decodable. This book will not be matched to your child’s reading level, so there is no expectations to attempt to read the words. This book is intended for your child to share with an adult or an older sibling, to enjoy the story and pictures without having to worry about applying their skills. 

Reception:

Pupils will be taught letters and harder to read words following the Essential Letters and Sounds programme. They will also be taught to blend and segment simple words.