Statement of Intent for Phonics at Tewkesbury C of E Primary School
At Tewkesbury CE we recognise reading as a key life skill, which underpins access to the rest of the curriculum. We aim for children to read words and simple sentences by the end of Reception; become successful, fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1 and develop a lifelong love of reading as they move through school. The systematic teaching of synthetic phonics is given a high priority throughout Early Years and Key Stage 1. We value and encourage pupils to read for enjoyment and recognise that this starts with the foundations of acquiring letter sounds, segmenting and blending skills. By equipping children with these key skills, they will be able to complete the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 which serves as a useful checkpoint rather than asan end in itself. We want children to enjoy success and gain confidence from a positive experience.
In order to achieve this every child from Reception and Key Stage 1 receives daily phonic lessons. Every lesson has clear precise structure of revisit, teach, practise and apply. This allows for a recapping of previous knowledge and time to embed new learning, which can then be practised and applied in both reading and writing every day.
At C of E we teach children in whole class groups. This allows all children to access age appropriate phonics. Children will typically learn Phase 2 and Phase 3 sounds in Reception with them starting Phase 4 in the Summer. In Year 1 Phase 4 is recapped before Phase 5 is taught including learning of alternative sounds and alternative graphemes in words. In Year 1 children will also do the Phonic Screening Check which assesses their phonic knowledge and ability to apply sounds to read both real and alien (pseudo) words. In Year 2 children then move onto learning spelling patterns and rules once they have completed the phonics programme. All children are closely monitored and regularly assessed so that any children who are struggling or who have gaps or misconceptions are identified early and additional support put in place.
Intent
To provide consistent, high quality phonics teaching which is accessed by all children regardless of gender, age, ability, disability, ethnic origin, faith, culture, social circumstances and sexual orientation.
To ensure that the teaching of synthetic phonics is systematic and progressive throughout Foundation stage and Key Stage One to support phonetic knowledge and understanding.
To ensure that children have secure phonetic knowledge, understanding and skills so that they can decode words confidently and apply this when reading and writing.
To teach children aural discrimination, phonemic awareness and rhyme to aid reading, writing and spelling development.
To enable children to use phonic awareness across the curriculum.
To provide children with strategies to identify and decode ‘Common Exception Words
Implementation
Structure of Phonics Teaching
Consistency of approach to teaching phonics is ensured by following our chosen programme; Unlocking Letters and Sounds (ULS). This programme has been carefully selected to meet the specific needs of the school. ULS specifies a clear order of progression in which new sounds and skills are taught. By using this programme throughout the school, the structure and methodology of our lessons is consistent in Reception and Year 1 and even into Year 2.
Delivery
ULS is taught daily for 30 mins across Reception and KS1. When new sounds are being introduced, they are taught at a rate of four per week with a review lesson on Friday.
Each phonic lesson begins with a review section where children practise reading previously seen sounds, decodable words and common exception words. The new sound is introduced and then children apply this new knowledge by reading and writing words containing the sound. Finally, children are extended by reading and writing captions and sentences when they are ready.
Year 2 classes begin the year teaching phonics in the same way as Reception and Year 1 until they complete the phonics programme. They then move on to whole class reading and spelling linked to the expectations outlined in the National Curriculum. There are some children who still require phonics teaching in Key stage 2. These children are either taught a phonics lesson in a small group or are given 1:1 targeted intervention.
Assessment and Support
Throughout each phonics lesson, teachers and support staff carefully observe and assess children so extra support can be offered where needed. Phonics is not confined to the discrete phonics sessions and is incorporated in cross- curricular learning throughout the school. All teaching staff understand the expectations of the curriculum and skilfully use both planned interventions and spontaneous opportunities to further embed phonics knowledge.
As well as ongoing formative assessment, we use an online tracker to monitor individual progress and begin to plug any gaps as soon as they appear. Teachers analyse where children need extra support and provide targeted 1:1 intervention as outlined in our programme; Unlocking Letters and Sounds. By adopting a rigorous approach to the learning of phonics right from the start, we best enable the majority of children to ‘keep up, not catch up’. The lowest 20% are closely monitored to ensure the interventions have an impact.
Reading Books
We promote a phonics first approach in both our guided reading sessions at school and in the book’s, children take home. Texts are very closely matched to a child’s current phonics ability so that every child can experience real success in their reading. In these crucial early stages of reading we use books from Ransom Reading Stars Phonics. This is to ensure complete fidelity to the Unlocking Letters and Sounds progression that we follow. Children are encouraged to re-read their decodable book at least 3 times, fordecoding, fluency and prosody, before changing to a new text. Once children progress beyond decodable texts, they move onto AR reader where children are assigned a book based on their reading age and ability.
Parental Communication
Children have a blue reading folder that is consistent across KS1. The book bagcontains a Reading Record in which school staff and home adults can record what has been read by a child; a sharing book for the adult to read and a decodable phonics reading book. Parents are kept up to date of the new sounds being introduced via our online platforms; Showbie and Tapestry.
At C of E we have an open-door policy and encourage parents to come and ask questions or talk to us. There are times throughout the year when we welcome parents in to the school to attend workshops or join us for a phonic session. Soon after starting in Reception, parents are given a presentation informing them about how reading is taught in the school and how parents can support their child at home. Year 1 parents are invited to a meeting at the start of the year and also one in the summer term to discuss the Year 1 Phonic screening check.
Impact
· Children will make good progress through the different phases of phonics in line with Year Group expectations and make progress from their own individual starting points.
· Children will become confident and resilient in tackling unfamiliar words by applying learnt knowledge and skills to segment, blend and read words which are real and nonsense.
· Children will demonstrate high levels of engagement in phonics and will apply their phonological knowledge when reading and writing and use the working walls or sound and word mats to assist them when needed but become increasingly independent in this process.
· Children with SEND will develop phonic skills and knowledge and they will develop their ability to apply this across the curriculum which will help to prepare them for the next stage in their education.
· Children will become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One. This way, children can focus on developing their confidence, prosody and comprehension as they move through the school.
· Children will possess the necessary skills to help them to engage in a love of literature and an enjoyment of reading for their own pleasure and the see the learning opportunities reading brings.
SIAMS – Outstanding
