Early Reading & Phonics – St. Joseph & St. Theresa Catholic Primary School

An Introduction:

At St Joseph & St Theresa Catholic Primary School, we value reading as a key life skill, and are committed to enabling all of our children to become lifelong readers, fostering a love of reading.

We believe that for all our children to become fluent readers and writers, phonics must be taught successfully through a systematic and structured phonics programme.

Our Early Readers:

At St Joseph & St Theresa Catholic Primary School, our early readers will develop a strong passion for reading. Talk about a range of stories that they have read themselves as well as those books that have been read to them. Become strong communicators and listen carefully in a range of different situations. Develop the skills to hold a conversation with friends and adults, ask relevant questions and uses new vocabulary to explain ideas and share feelings.

Intent

Phonics (reading & spelling)

At St Joseph & St Theresa Catholic Primary school, we believe that all of our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters & Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. Our phonics teaching starts in Nursery and follows a very specific sequence that allows our children to build on their growing knowledge of alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move throughout our school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. We also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. At St Joseph & St Theresa’s, we have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading & writing in all subjects.

Comprehension

At St Joseph & St Theresa Catholic Primary School, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time our children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose. Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, all members of staff, prioritise reading with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.

Implementation – Phonics:

Nursery Provision

Within our Nursery class, our children follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised ‘Foundations for Phonics’ guidance. The focus is on:

Supporting language development.
Story reading through sharing high quality stories.
Learning a range of Nursery Rhymes, action & routine rhymes.
Activities that develop focused listening & attention, phonological awareness and oral blending.

Reception & Year 1

Our Reception & Year 1 classes, follow the progression within the Little Wandle Letters & Sounds Revised Programme.
Phonic sessions are taught daily with a review session every Friday.
Phonics starts, within our Reception class, in week 2 to ensure that children make a strong start.
Reception lessons start at 10 minutes, with daily additional oral blending and repeated practice throughout the day. The phonics session increases to 30 minutes as soon as possible.
Year 1 lessons are 30 minutes long, with repeated practice throughout the day.
By the end of their Reception Year, our children will have been taught up to the end of phase 4.
By the end of Year 1, our children will have been taught up to the end of phase 5.
Any child who needs additional practice receives daily Keep-up support.
Our Keep Up lessons match the structure of class teaching and use the same procedures, resources & mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.
All Keep Up sessions are taught by fully trained adults within the Little Wandle Revised Letters & Sounds Revised programme.

Years 2, 3 & above

Our Year 2 & 3 children receive phonic lessons where appropriate, following the model of Little Wandle Letters & Sounds Revised but plugging specific gaps which have been identified through assessment.
After moving on from Phonics learning, the children move onto reading fluency books.
We follow the Rapid Catch Up programme from Little Wandle Letters & Sounds Revised for our children who are not reading at the expected level for their age.
The Rapid Catch-Up Programme mirrors the main phonics programme but has been created to help children catch up quickly, so has a faster pace.

SEN Provision

For our children with complex & additional needs, we follow the SEN programme which is a graduated approach from Little Wandle Letters & Sounds Revised.
The graduated approach teaches children to read in small steps that provide the right amount of challenge.
It provides pathways for pupils who need very specific adaptations to the teaching steps, due to complex needs.

Implementation – Reading

Reading Practice Sessions

Our children within Reception, Year 1 & beyond, if required, are taught the skills of reading through reading practice sessions which take place three times a week.
Reading practice sessions are taught by fully trained adults and are monitored closely by the class teachers, who rotates and reads with each group on a regular basis. There are approximately 6 children per group.
We use books that have been matched to our children’s phonic knowledge and follow the model set out within the Little Wandle Revised Letters & Sounds Revised programme.
Our reading practice sessions, follow a clear focus and have been designed to focus on three key reading skills – decoding, prosody (teaching children to read with understanding & expression) and comprehension (teaching children to understand the text).
In Reception these reading practice sessions start in Week 4. Children who are not yet decoding have daily additional blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.
In Year 2 , 3 & beyond, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books.
Our Children who are receiving additional phonics Keep-up sessions, read their reading practice book to an adult daily. Additional provision is also planned for them using the simple view of reading to ensure that our curriculum is accessible and inclusive for all.
All adults use the same language, routines and resources to teach children to read so that we lower children’s cognitive load.

Reading for Pleasure

We read to children every day and choose books carefully as we want our children to experience a wide range of books, including books that reflect the children at St Joseph & St Theresa Catholic Primary School and our local community as well as books that open windows into other worlds and cultures.
We use books, both fiction and non fiction texts, as well as poetry and rhymes to enhance all curriculum areas and develop deep level understanding, enjoyment and to spark a passion for books.
Every classroom has an inviting book corner that encourages a love for reading. We curate these books and talk about them to entice children to read a wide range of books.
Our ‘Buddy system’ allows older children to share books with our younger readers.
Children have regular opportunities throughout the year, to engage with a wide range of Reading for Pleasure events, such as book fairs, author visits and workshops & national events such as World Book Day.

Home Readers

At St Joseph & St Theresa Catholic Primary School, we value the huge impact that home educators have by continuing to practise reading at home.

Nursery Provision

Library Loan Book Sets: These books are to be shared with children.
Home Educators are encouraged to share their child’s reading for pleasure using Google Classroom.

Reception & Year 1

Children will bring home two types of reading book:

A fully decodable book, which has been read in school as part of the reading practice sessions. This book is matched to phonic stage meaning that children will be able to read 95% of the book.
Library Loan Book Set, these books are to shared at home to promote enjoyment.
Home Educators are encouraged to use the Boom Reader App to record all home reading.

Year 2 & Beyond

In Year 2 & beyond, we continue send a decodable book home, which has been matched to phonic stage. Children will be able to read 95% of this book.
A library book is also selected and taken home.
Home Educators are encouraged to use the Boom Reader App to record all home reading.

How we assess knowledge

In Reception & Year 1, a review session at the end of each week is used to recap learning and address misconceptions. Assessment is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support as soon as they need it. Keep Up sessions are used to immediately provide support. Our children within Reception & Year 1 are assessed at the end of every half term using the Little Wandle Letters & Sounds Revised assessment tracker. Our children in Year 1, sit the Phonics Screening Check during the Summer term. Our children who do not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, re-sit this in Year 2. Children who are in Y2-Y6 and need ‘catch up’ sessions are assessed through teacher’s ongoing formative assessment as well as half termly summative assessments.

Impact:

Children at St Joseph and St Theresa Catholic Primary School are attentive and discerning as they enjoy and fully participate by being curious and active within their daily phonic sessions which are well matched to the ages and stages of all children. Those children requiring additional support are targeted promptly through appropriate and timely intervention. Phonic skills are transferable into all areas of the curriculum and have a direct impact on reading and writing attainment as class teachers make direct links to the skills taught during their daily sessions.

Parents are well informed and are able to use the website as a platform to support their pupils at home. Through the teaching of systematic phonics, we aim for all pupils to become learned and wise as they grow to be fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One. This way, pupils can focus on developing their fluency and comprehension as they progress through our school.