Phonics and Reading

Reading at Roundthorn

Reading has a high profile in our academy and is taught from the very start of a child’s learning journey at Roundthorn. Every day, throughout the academy, children listen to and share stories to develop their knowledge and understanding of story structure and to develop their vocabulary and understanding of language and grammar. We believe that children should encounter an environment in which they are surrounded by books and other reading material presented in an attractive and inviting way.

Phonics is the first important step in learning to read. Children are taught to:

recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes
identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make
blend sounds from left to right to make a word

In Nursery, children engage in early oral phonics activities every day in all their sessions to help them learn to be aware of sounds and to distinguish between different sounds.

Daily phonics lessons begin in Reception class and continue through Key Stage 1, progressing from simple phonic knowledge to the more complex. We follow the teaching sequence from the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme to develop children’s skills. Phonically decodable texts are used to support the application of pupils’ developing phonic knowledge. Reading lessons are taught in small groups, beginning in Reception, to develop fluency as well as decoding and comprehension skills. In the summer term of Year 1, children complete the phonics screening check to confirm their progress against national standards. Any children who do not achieve the threshold mark at this time are given additional help in Year 2 to secure their phonic knowledge.

The expectation is that pupils will have secured word recognition skills and be fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1. Those few who need further phonics teaching will continue into Key Stage 2 to ensure that all children complete the programme. Children who are new arrivals after Key Stage 1 are assessed and teaching is targeted to their needs in small groups or on an individual basis.

Children will also read individually to an adult and pupils who need extra support are identified for specifically targeted interventions delivered by trained staff. Quality texts are used across the academy and children will move to whole class reading in Key Stage 2.

All children are given opportunities to practise their reading in school, both for instruction and enjoyment, including adult supported Early Morning Reading, DEAR time (Drop Everything and Read). Children are also encouraged to read daily at home.

The teaching of reading at Roundthorn will ensure that children learn to read independently and with enthusiasm, both for learning and for pleasure. They should read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning in them.

We aim for children to be ‘Primary Literate Pupils’ by the end of Key Stage 2.

They should be able to:

Read with confidence, fluency and understanding, using a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct.
Show an interest in books and read for enjoyment
Have an interest in words and their meanings and develop a growing vocabulary
Understand a range of text types and genres
Develop the powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness
Have a suitable technical vocabulary to articulate their responses.

Information from Reception Parents Reading and Phonics Workshop

Information from Years 1 and 2 Parents Reading and Phonics Workshop