Phonics & Reading

Phonics

In Reception and Key Stage 1 each child takes part in a daily phonics lesson of at least 20 minutes. The children are grouped into phases. By the end of Reception each child is expected to have achieved Phase 3; by the end of Year 1 each child is expected to have achieved Phase 5; by the end of Year 2 each child is expected to have achieved Phase 6. Phonics sessions are interactive and fun! Teachers follow the phonics scheme 'Letters and Sounds'.

During KS1, pupils will increase their fluency by learning to read words easily and automatically; this includes words which use common graphemes in addition to exception words. They will learn to retell familiar stories in addition to listening to and discussing a wide range of stories, poems, plays and information books. In KS2, we will continue to emphasise pupils’ enjoyment and understanding of language, especially vocabulary, to support their reading. Pupils’ knowledge of language, gained from stories, plays, poetry, non-fiction and textbooks, will support their increasing fluency as readers.

Reading Schemes

In the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, the children learn to read using a variety of texts which are in colour coded book bands.  These books may come from a scheme such as 'Oxford Reading Tree', or may be a non-scheme picture book, fiction or non-fiction text. Children in all classes take home a reading book each day. They also have a library book from the visiting Mobile Library Service. In addition they have at least one guided reading session per week. Once a child moves beyond the Book Bands they will select a home-reading book from our collection of fiction and non-fiction books in our school or class library.