Phonics Lead – Mrs A Bartoli & Mrs A Dale

Phonics at St Hedda’s

At St Hedda’s reading is valued and promoted to be an enjoyable activity and an essential life skill. Children are encouraged to become confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers.

No time is wasted in ensuring direct phonics is started within the first few weeks of children starting school at St Hedda’s; The phonics teaching is intensive, following the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised’ programme.

At St Hedda’s we recognise that reading is something that needs to be directly taught; it is not an innate skill. Children do not learn to read by chance, or by being given books to ‘read’ with sounds in which they have not been taught.

Our ‘Big Cat Collins’ reading scheme has been carefully chosen to ensure that the home reading books are closely linked to the sounds that have been taught – so that children do not encounter words which they cannot decode. As children become more confident readers, carefully chosen books also include the ‘Tricky Words’ which children have been taught within the phonic scheme.

In order to ensure that all staff are able to deliver this high priority teaching to a high standard, all staff who join St Hedda’s receive phonics training as part of their induction package: all teachers need a firm foundation in early reading skills to support struggling readers at all ages. We also access training through YEAT Hub .

 

Phonics Teaching Approach

It is vital that the teaching of phonics in school is systematic and expectations are clear. Of the 26 letters and 44 phonemes, there are approximately 140 different letter combinations which children need to learn to become fluent readers. As such, the key ingredients to phonics teaching at St Hedda’s are:

• All children in reception and year 1 classes will receive at least one daily phonics session
• As much as practicably possible, children will move through the order of sounds together: children who need extra support to catch up will be prioritised between sessions, to ensure that learning gaps do not appear, or widen over time
• The teacher is responsible for the teaching of phonics to all children; well qualified teaching assistants support the teaching and intervention, but the teacher has responsibility for the learning of all children
• Children’s growing phonic knowledge is closely assessed and tracked, away from the point of teaching, to ensure that all staff know children’s strengths and areas to practise in reading. Home phonic reading books are targeted appropriately, based on this assessment
• Phonics teaching includes ‘common exception words’ – which are best taught as ‘sight words’ – where children just ‘know’ the words without using phonic blending strategies. The Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised scheme calls these ‘tricky words’
• Phonic application and revisiting is promoted across the early years environment
• Consistent phonics prompts are displayed in all classrooms and intervention spaces from reception to Year 6 – at the appropriate level – to support reading and spelling strategies
• Whilst school staff demonstrate fidelity to the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised’ approach, they ensure that phonics teaching is multi-sensory – particularly in Early Years. Creative teaching approaches are encouraged, so long as they do not deviate away from the systematic order and approach of the chosen programme
• Children develop speed and fluency within their reading, by being secure in phonics knowledge and the taught sight vocabulary – so that children do not lose the meaning of sentences, through struggling to decode. Children experience success when books are matched to taught phonic knowledge, instilling positive attitudes and further success. Success breeds success.
• We do not teach ‘consonant blends’, e.g. ‘st’, and associated ‘st’ word lists. s/t/e/p can all be phonetically decoded, without adding the additional ‘st’ learning burden to children’s growing phonic knowledge
• In reception, we have ambition and expectation for our children, recognising that CVC words are not always letters, e.g. ‘sheet’ is a CVC word: sh/ee/t. Importantly, ‘saw’ is not a CVC word – s/aw
• We ensure that any words used to teach phonic sounds are clearly explained, e.g. a-e ‘quake’, to develop children’s growing vocabulary

Parental engagement

• Phonics learning is strongest when parents are true partners. As such, each child will always have home reading books to support home learning. Parents have access to both in school workshops and online support in this area.Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.There are two types of reading book that your child may bring home:A reading practice book. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently.A sharing book.  Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.

  Reading practice book

  This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.

  Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.

   

Reading at home.

• Sharing bookThe sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together. In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure.Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!
• If you are a parent and would like more information about how to support your child with phonics at home, please follow this link to find the Reception and Year 1 overview as well as videos of the sound pronunciations, letter formation sheets and other helpful resources.
• https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/