Phonics
'A child who reads will be an adult who thinks.' Author unknown
Phonics at St Anne’s
Intent
At St Anne’s, we believe all children can become confident and competent readers; reading, and a love of books, is fostered throughout our school.
We know that reading underpins all learning. In order to achieve maximum progress and attainment for all, reading is taught through the teaching of systematic synthetic phonics. Other strategies to support phonetic reading are introduced to the children to ensure that fluency and comprehension skills develop.
Implementation
The DfE validated phonic scheme ‘My Letters and Sounds’ has been adopted across Reception and Year 1. My Letters and Sounds is divided into five phases. Phases One to Four cover the Reception year and Phase Five covers Year 1. In each phase, new teaching builds upon the children’s knowledge of grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and phonics skills taught in the previous phase.
Content of the scheme is taught through daily, whole class, phonic lessons. If assessment highlights the need, small group and intervention work is facilitated. This can be small groups withdrawn from the main class input or, small groups receiving additional support at a time different to the main class input.
Once developmentally ready, children are supported to apply their phonic knowledge, skills and understanding to independent reading. My Letters and Sounds reading books, which correlate to the teaching content of the scheme, are sent home. Each child also takes home a reading diary within which, reading in school is recorded along with suggestions for supporting reading at home. Parents and carers are encouraged to record reading completed at home too.
Parents are invited to an ‘Early Reading and Writing at St Anne’s’ workshop when their child joins our school in Reception.
Assessment of phonics knowledge and skills takes place at the start of each half-term. Reading levels are checked in relation to phonic ability to ensure that suitable pitch and challenge is present in the reading books provided for each child. Individual records of attainment are kept. Progress and attainment of individual children and cohorts are monitored; the phonics lead meets with relevant staff to discuss assessment outcomes after each assessment cycle.
The statutory phonic screening check takes place in June of Year 1. The results of this are shared with parents in their child’s annual written report from the class teacher.
Children who do not meet the demands of this screening check continue to be assessed and taught phonics in line with their need in Year 2. These children revisit the check in June of Year 2 and outcomes are reported in the child’s annual written report from the class teacher.
Written letter formation is taught when each single letter grapheme is introduced. Further practise is given outside of phonic sessions to aid development. Spelling and writing single words, simple phrases and sentences is taught; again, additional time to develop independent writing skills is allocated within the timetable.
Impact
Our children are confident to apply their phonic knowledge, and other strategies taught, to their independent reading.
At home, children share reading books that closely matched to their phonic knowledge. This has a
positive impact on the progress that they make.
Children are able to utilise their phonic knowledge, skills and understanding to make phonically plausibly attempts at spelling words; they share their ideas in writing across a range of subjects and for a range of purposes.
Our aim is for all children to:
- read at an age-appropriate level with fluency
- develop a life-long love of reading where they read widely and often, with fluency and comprehension.
- Achieve well at EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 assessment points
- Have the required phonics skills to pass Year 1 phonic screening check on the first attempt
