Sandon JMI School

Learning, Resilience, Independence

Phonics

Resources for Parents and Carers

Below are some useful videos demonstrating how we pronounce sounds (phonemes) taught in school to help you feel confident about supporting your child’s reading at home. It is important these are pronounced correctly so we can make the correct word when we blend them together!

 Phase 2

These sounds are taught in Reception Autumn 1.

//www.youtube.com/embed/-ZtjFIvA_fs#t=0.5

 These sounds are taught in Reception Autumn 2.

//www.youtube.com/embed/qDu3JAjf-U0#t=0.5

 

Phase 3

These sounds are taught in Reception Spring 1.

//www.youtube.com/embed/DvOuc7cWXxc#t=0.5

 

Please also take a look at the parents page on the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds website. Here you can access lots of helpful resources, including explanations on how we teach phonics and support with tricky words – these change on a termly basis as the children’s phonic knowledge progresses.

 

Intent

Phonics (reading and spelling)

At Sandon JMI School, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. Our phonics provision ensures that all of our children receive the support they need to flourish. It is essential that our approach to teaching phonics and reading is accessible to all learners, regardless of background. From week 2 in Reception, we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic synthetic phonics programme. This ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school. As a result, children are equipped with the skills they need to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read.

 

At Sandon, we model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson, and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

 

Comprehension

At Sandon, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary, ask questions to find out more, and reflect on what they have read. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for pleasure and purpose.

 

Teaching every child to read is of the utmost importance. Our Reading Leader is highly skilled in teaching phonics and reading, and they monitor and support our reading team so everyone teaches with fidelity.

 

Implementation

Daily phonics lessons in Reception and Year 1

Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in week 2 of the Autumn term. We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to full-length lessons as quickly as possible. Our lessons always provide opportunities to revisit and review previous learning, as well as learn, practice, and apply new sounds and spelling patterns. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.

 

We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress:

  • Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
  • Children in Year 1 review Phases 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.

 

Any child in Reception and Year 1 who needs additional practice has Daily Keep-up support and is taught by a fully trained adult. These follow the structure of class teaching and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition so that every child secures their learning.

 

Children in Year 2 to Year 6: Rapid Catch-up

We timetable daily phonics lessons for any child in Year 2 and above who is not at age-related expectations for reading or has not passed the Phonics Screening Check. These children urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Rapid Catch-up resources - at pace. Children are regularly assessed to determine their progress and inform teaching.

 

Daily phonics and spelling in Year 2

At the beginning of Year 2, any gaps in teaching from Year 1 are addressed through daily phonics lessons until the programme is completed. We then teach a five-week Phase 5 review to ensure that children are secure in the trickier elements of Phase 5 and can apply this alphabetic knowledge in both reading and spelling. We reassess children’s knowledge and plug remaining gaps if necessary before moving on.

 

Once the Phase 5 review is secure, we teach the Bridge to Spelling before moving to the Spelling units. Children with larger gaps in their phonic knowledge than their peers have daily phonics teaching and follow the Rapid Catch-up programme. 

 

Teaching reading in reception and year 1: Reading practice sessions three times a week

We teach reading practice sessions three times a week. These are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups using books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge. Sessions are monitored by the class teacher, who works with each group on a regular basis.

 

Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:

  • Decoding: teaching children to segment and blend to read words, and recognise tricky words.
  • Prosody: reading with understanding and expression.
  • Comprehension: understanding the text.

 

In Reception, these sessions start in mid-October (approximately). Children who are not yet decoding and blending have daily additional blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books matched to their secure phonic knowledge. Reading in Rapid Catch-up lessons mirrors the core programme.

 

Additional reading support for vulnerable children

Children in our school who are receiving additional phonics Daily Keep-up or Rapid Catch-up sessions read their reading practice book regularly to an adult in school. We prioritise children who may not have reading support at home or who may not have access to books. We ensure that they have individual reading times with volunteers and staff to share quality children’s literature to promote a love of reading.

 

Ensuring consistency and pace of progress

  • Every teacher in our school has been trained to teach reading, so we have the same expectations of progress. We all use the same language, routines and resources to teach children to read so that we lower children’s cognitive load.
  • Weekly content grids map each element of new learning to each day, week and term for the duration of the programme.
  • Lesson templates, prompt cards and ‘How to’ videos ensure teachers all have a consistent approach and structure for each lesson.

 

Ensuring Reading for Pleasure

‘Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s success’ (OECD 2002).

 

At Sandon JMI, we highly value Reading for Pleasure and work hard as a school to nurture a love for reading in our learners. A decodable reading practice book is taken home to ensure success is shared with the family. Reading for Pleasure books, chosen by children from our wide range of library books, also go home for adults to share and read with children. The school library is made available for classes to use at protected times. Children across the school have regular opportunities to engage with a wide range of Reading for Pleasure events (book fairs, author visits etc.).

 

  • We read aloud to children every day. We choose these books carefully as we want children to experience a wide range of books, including those that reflect the children at Sandon JMI School and our local community as well as books that open windows into other worlds and cultures.
  • Writing units in literacy lessons use a high-quality text as their focus.
  • Every classroom has an inviting book corner that encourages a love for reading. We curate these books and talk about them to entice children to read a wide range of books.
  • In Reception, children have access to the reading corner every day in their free-flow time and the books are continually refreshed, linking to our current learning as well as the children’s interests.
  • From Reception onwards, children have a reading record. Parents/carers and adults in school comment on children’s reading to ensure communication between home and school. As the children progress through the school, they are encouraged to write their own comments and keep a list of the books/authors that they have read to help them develop an understanding of what they enjoy reading.

 

Impact

Assessment

Assessment is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support as soon as they need it.

Assessment for Learning is used:

  • daily within class to identify children who require Daily Keep-up support, as well as words and GPCs that need additional teaching or practice.
  • weekly in the review lesson to assess gaps, address these immediately and secure fluency of GPCs, words and spellings.

Summative assessments are used:

  • every six weeks in Reception and Year 1 to assess progress, to identify gaps in learning that need to be addressed before moving on, and any children needing additional support and to plan the Keep-up support that they need.
  • regularly in Year 1 and 2 where appropriate.
  • to monitor progress for individuals and year groups, scrutinising at the GPC, word, tricky word, and sentence level to help plan how to narrow attainment gaps and put any additional support for teachers in place.
  • to help identify suitable decodable reading materials.

Statutory assessment:

Children in Year 1 sit the Phonics Screening Check. Any child not passing the check resits it in Year 2.

 

Progression Documents

Reception and Year 1 Progression Overview

Year 2 Progression Overview

Rapid Catch-up Progression Overview