Phonics and Early Reading
At Holy Family, we believe that reading is the key to unlocking learning across the curriculum and beyond. It is one of the most important skills our children will learn. Strong reading skills allow our children to access the full curriculum, develop their vocabulary and communication skills, build imagination and creativity and increase their condfidence and independence. Our aim is to help every child become a confident and fluent reader. We want our children to read effortlessy so that they can focus on the enjoyment that reading and the wonderful world of books offers them.
Our school follows the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Programme and this reading journey begins as soon as children start with us in Nursery. Below is some information about how we teach Early Reading and Phonics and what reading looks like across our school.
What is Phonics?
Phonics is making connections between the sounds (phonemes) of our spoken words and the letters that are used to write them down (graphemes). Phonics teaches children to:
- recognise the sounds that letters make
- blend sounds together to read words
- segment words into sounds for spelling
- develop confidence when reading unfamiliar words
Phonics teaching begins in the Early Years and follows a clear, structured progression so that children build their skills step by step. Through daily phonics lessons, children learn to decode words quickly and accurately. As their confidence grows, they are able to focus more on understanding and enjoying what they read.
Phonics in Nursery
"Reading floats on a sea of talk." James Britton.
We know that the best way we can develop your child's future reading is through developing their language. Before a child can learn to read, they need to be able to speak and listen, and this is what we focus on in Nursery. Through speaking and listening games and activities, and a rich variety of songs, rhymes and stories, children will develop their phonological awareness (their ability to recognise sounds in words) and they will develop a love of reading, giving them the best possible start to their reading journey.
Please see the guidance linked here from Little Wandle Foundations for further information on helping your child Nursery.
Phonics in Reception
In Reception, children to continue to build on the strong foundations developed in Nursery and still enjoy a rich variety of rhymes, songs and stories to develop their phonemic awareness and love of reading. They also begin their formal phonics teaching journey as soon as they start Reception class and they begin to learn the sounds (phonemes) that represent letters (graphemes) in order to sound out and blend words for reading. In Reception, children will cover phases 2-4 phonics, learning Grapheme-to-Phoneme Correspondences (GPCs) and tricky words within these phases.
Children will be assessed regularly using Little Wandle Assessments and any children with gaps in their learning will take part in additional Daily Keep Up sessions so that the gaps do not widen.
An overview of phonics in the Reception Autumn term can be viewed here.
An overview of phonics in the Reception Spring term can be viewed here.
Phonics in Year 1
In Year 1, children will review their learning from Reception and then begin phase 5 phonics. Phase 5 covers the last remaining graphemes of the Little Wandle progression and alternative pronunciations and spellings of graphemes learned. They will also learn to ‘Grow the code’ where children will explore different ways of spelling the same phoneme and reading the same grapheme. This means that they are able to read increasingly challenging words and books. Year 1 children will learn strategies so that they can distinguish between the same grapheme, different phoneme and the same phoneme but different grapheme. ‘Growing the code’ will support children as they get older with accurate spelling.
Throughout Year 1, children will become increasingly confident with blending in their heads so that reading becomes more fluent.
An overview of phonics in Year 1 can be viewed here.
Phonics in Year 2
In Year 2, the focus shifts 'from reading to spelling'. The year begins with reviewing phase 5 learning from Year 1 and children will then be taught using the Little Wandle Spelling programme. Little Wandle Spelling builds on children’s knowledge of the alphabetic code and teaches them how to spell with confidence.
Additionally, children in Year 2 will continue to develop their fluency in reading and will take part in three reading sessions per week, following the Little Wandle Fluency programme.
If any children have assessments that show gaps in their learning, they will need to urgently catch up so that their reading and spellings skills do not fall behind. These children will take part in Rapid Catch Up sessions with a trained teaching assistant 3 times per week in order to adress these gaps. This may be individually or in a small group.
Phonics for children with SEND
At Holy Family, we ensure every child is given the opportunity to learn to read and can do so using phonics. Adaptations may be made for children with SEND, which might include slowing the pace of the programme or increasing the adult support available to a child. They may also follow the SEND programme. We aim for the best possible outcomes for all of our children and each child will be placed on the best pathway according to their individual needs.
Reading books
"A love of reading is the biggest indicator of future academic success." Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
In class, children in Reception to Year 2 will read 3 times weekly in small groups with a trained adult.
We also want all of our children to enjoy reading at home with their families and be able to immerse themselves in reading poems, stories and a wide variety of texts to read for pleasure.
From Reception through to Year 2, children will bring home a phonics book each week that they have been practising in class. This book allows children to practise their reading skills focused on that week and allows them to show you their learning.
They will also bring home a 'share book' which is a book they have chosen to read at home with you. This book is not for the child to read aloud but for you to enjoy together to help develop their love of reading.
Reading in Key Stage 2
Children in Year 3 and above who are reading at the expected level will continue to develop their fluency and comprehension skills in their classes. Any children not yet at this stage will take part in Rapid Catch Up lessons where necessary or additional reading fluency lessons until they are reading at the expected level for their year group.
