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Language
Phonics & Early Reading
We care for all God’s children, unconditionally. As a rural town community, the Parable of Jesus as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) resonates with our children who feel valued and welcomed as individuals. All members of our school family, the community and the wider world are valued and respected.
Phonics Scheme
We use Unlocking Letters and Sounds which was validated by the DfE in December 2021.
We begin teaching phonics in the first week of term 1 in Reception and children make rapid progress in their reading journey. Children begin to learn the main sounds heard in the English Language and how they can be represented, as well as learning ‘Common Exception’ words for Phases 2, 3 and 4. They use these sounds to read and write simple words, captions and sentences. Children leave Reception being able to apply the phonemes taught within Phase 2, 3 and 4.
Phase 2 ‘Actions, Images and Letter Formation’ document
In Year 1 through Phase 5a, b and c, they learn any alternative spellings and pronunciations for the graphemes and additional Common Exception Words. By the end of Year 1 children will have mastered using phonics to decode and blend when reading and segment when spelling. In Year 1 all children are screened using the national Phonics Screening Check.
In Year 2, phonics continues to be revisited to ensure mastery of the phonetic code and any child who does not meet age related expectations will continue to receive support to close identified gaps.
For further details please see the Unlocking Letters and Sounds progression:
To ensure no child is left behind at any point in the progression, children are regularly assessed and supported to keep up through bespoke 1-1 interventions. These include GPC recognition and blending and segmenting interventions. The lowest attaining 20% of pupils are closely monitored to ensure these interventions have an impact.
Reading Scheme
At St Nicholas Chantry we promote a 'phonics first' approach and in both our guided reading sessions at school and in the books children take home, texts are very closely matched to a child's current phonics knowledge so that every child can experience real success in their reading.
In these crucial early stages of reading we primarily use books from Ransom Reading Stars Phonics to ensure complete fidelity to the Unlocking Letters and Sounds progression we follow.
Once children progress beyond decodable texts, they move onto our book scheme so that they can continue to progress in their decoding, fluency and comprehension skills to become avid, expert readers.
Please listen to the phonics workshop below for more information on how best to support your child with phonics and reading at home.
Phonics workshop with voice over
ULS Action Videos:
How to support your child at home with phonics and reading
/i/video/Phonics_Video.mp4
Impact
Our phonics curriculum significantly enhances children's reading proficiency. Children are not only able to decode words accurately but also demonstrate a higher level of fluency and comprehension. As a result, they excel in various subjects across the curriculum, confidently tackling complex texts and grasping essential concepts with ease. They leave primary school as confident, able readers.
Our high quality wave one phonics teaching ensures that all children achieve and succeed. We have a ‘Keep up, not catch up’ mind set and ensure to quickly close the gaps for pupils. We do this through delivering 1 to 1 bespoke interventions.
Our phonics results have been consistently above national average.