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Phonics and Reading

Children sharing books on World Book Day.

We use the updated 2023 DFE Reading Guidance to ensure we are meeting the expectations in all aspects of Reading across the school. This can be found here: The reading framework: teaching the foundations of literacy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

We regularly invite authors into school. Billy Bob Buttons- the award winning author visited us and led a super workshop on story telling and creative writing. We were also able to purchase singed copies of his books.

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We read everywhere and anywhere!

Reading prizes!

A love of reading makes a big difference in children’s achievement both now and into the future. At our school we work to encourage a love of reading in all children.  Encouraging children to practise essential reading skills, developing their fluency, pace and resilience as well as increasing their understanding of language and enriching their vocabulary. 

We aim to cultivate this love of reading through providing positive reading experiences such as celebrating World Book or author days, sharing reading across the school, opportunities to meet authors, reading competitions as well as providing quality texts to stimulate and enguage readers of all ages.

National Curriculum for Reading: National curriculum in England: English programmes of study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Our Reading skills tracker can be found here:

EYFS information for parents can be found here: Parents and families | National Literacy Trust

Author Stuart Reid came into school to teach us how to become writers. We used our ideas to create our own stories!

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Parent workshops!

  • How is phonics taught in our school?

    The ability to read is within the reach of every child.  The most direct route to reading for the vast majority of children is through systematically taught, 'synthetic phonics'.  At Belton All Saints we teach phonics discretely and systematically as an approach to reading, where children learn to decode (read) and encode (spell) printed words quickly and fluently by blending and segmenting letter sounds.

    We are just starting to use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised (June 2022) to plan and provide daily or twice daily engaging phonics lessons. In phonics, we teach children that the letters of the alphabet represent a different sound, that these can be used in a variety of combinations and are put together to make words. The children learn to recognise all of the different sounds and combinations that they might see when they are reading or writing. Our phonics teaching starts in Nursery and follows a very specific sequence that allows our children to build on their previous phonic knowledge and master specific phonic strategies as they move through school. As a result, our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words that they might discover. We also model these strategies in shared reading and writing both inside and outside of the phonics lessons and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on the development of language skills for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

    Additional information can be found at: www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

     

    How we teach phonics.

    • In the nursery, children follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised ‘Foundations for Phonics’ guidance. The focus is on daily oral blending and language development through high quality stories and rhymes.
    • In Reception and Y1, children follow the progression within Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme. Phonics is taught daily and there is a review session on a Friday.
    • Phonics starts in Reception in week 2 to ensure the children make a strong start.
    • By the end of Reception, children will have been taught up to the end of phase 4.
    • By the end of year 1, children will have been taught up to the end of phase 5.
    • Reception lessons start at 10 minutes, with daily additional oral blending – increasing to 30 minutes as soon as possible.
    • Y1 lessons are approximately 30 minutes long.
    • In Y2-Y3, phonic lessons are taught daily to children where appropriate – following the model of Little Wandle but plugging specific gaps identified through assessment. In Y2-Y6 there are planned phonic ‘catch-up’ sessions following a set model to address specific reading/writing gaps. These are short, sharp sessions lasting 10 minutes in length and take place at least three times a week. Daily ‘No nonsense spelling’ lessons also take place which focus on the teaching of spelling, which embraces knowledge of spelling conventions – patterns and rules. Children in Key Stage Two continue to have individual reading books aimed at their reading level and interests. Whole class texts are used to promote reading skills and further develop fluency and reading comprehension.