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Early Reading / Phonics

Intent 

At Oak View Primary and Nursery School we believe that all children can become fluent readers and writers.  This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme.    

 

Phonics begins in the Early Years and we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through the school.  

As a result, our children are able to tackle unfamiliar words as they read.  We also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both within 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.

Implementation

Foundations for phonics in nursery includes a balance of adult/child led experiences for children covering Communication and Language and Literacy:

  • sharing high-quality stories and poems
  • learning a range of nursery and action rhymes
  • focused listening and attention activities
  • oral blending activities
  • attention to high quality language

We teach daily phonics lessons in Reception and KS1 classes, building from 10 minutes at the beginning of the Reception year to 30 minutes across all classes.

Reading sessions take place three times a week for each child, each session has a clear focus  – decoding, prosody and comprehension.  Decodable readers are sent home at the end of the week to ensure success is shared with families.  A reading for pleasure (sharing book) chosen by the child is also provided for reading together.

Impact

We acknowledge that reading is not an easy skill to master and offer parents regular workshops to enable support to be given at home.  

There will be children who, for a number of reasons, may need support with reading.  Through our daily teaching and half termly assessments, we quickly identify children who are falling behind, or at risk of falling behind and provide them with individual or group keep-up sessions.  Parents are informed when a child is receiving a reading intervention and given guidance on how to support them at home.

Children in Year 2 and above who did not pass the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check, children who are new to our school or children who are not reading at an age appropriate level will be assessed using the Rapid Catch Up assessment and will receive support with our Rapid Catch Up group intervention.  

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

Helpful resources can be found on the link below.

For parents – Letters and Sounds – Little Wandle