Phonics

Intent

At BPA, we strive to teach every child, regardless of background or need to read using the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme (RWI). The RWI program involves teaching synthetic phonics, sight vocabulary, decoding and encoding words as well as spelling and accurate letter formation. The ability to read is the bridge to all other learning and at BPA that is why learning to read from the first days at school is vital to us. We believe that teaching children these fundamental skills will not only enable them to access the rest of the curriculum but also have a huge impact on children’s self-esteem and future life chances. The RWI phonics program teaches children to:

• read fluently, confidently and with good understanding

• read often, for both pleasure and information

• form letters correctly and spell words accurately

Children learn to speedily recognise the 40+ common sounds in the English language and are taught how to blend these sounds to decode (read) words.  The common sounds are broken up into three sets ranging from the first 26 single sounds and the first 9 digraphs. Children are taught to read and blend the first 35 Set 1 sounds and recognise them on sight. Once they have mastered this skill, they start reading stories and texts containing words with the sounds they know. This means that they can embed and apply their phonic knowledge and start to build their reading fluency from the beginning, not just once they can recognise all 40+ sounds. Once secure, children learn tSet 2 and Set 3 sounds and then read texts with increasingly more complex sounds and graphemes. Throughout this process there is a focus on comprehension, reading with expression and reading for enjoyment.

Implementation

Children begin exploring the first 26 single sounds in nursery and this knowledge carries over into EYFS where we make a strong start to teaching phonics from their first days in Reception. Throughout Year 1 children are taught the remaining Set 2 and 3 sounds and are prepared for the Phonics Screening Check. By the end of Year 2 our continued phonics provision ensures that children are given the opportunity to leave Year 2 reading fluently and with expression.

EYFS: Children are baseline assessed and then introduced in a systematic way to each set of single sounds. In the EYFS, a vital aspect in the development of essential knowledge and skills in phonics is the use of continuous provision. This means that children are using and developing taught skills throughout the year on a daily/weekly basis. They then join the KS1 daily phonics lessons from Autumn 2.

KS1 (and EYFS from Autumn 2) : Phonics is taught twice daily from Autumn 1 (in KS1) where children are grouped based on their sound knowledge and level of fluency. The morning phonics lesson consists of a 15 minute ‘speed sound lesson’ where children learn new/review sounds;  and a 25 minute ‘storybook lesson’ where children explore fiction and non -fiction books linked to their sound knowledge. During  these lessons children are taught to: decode letter/sounds correspondences quickly and effortlessly, using their phonic knowledge and skills, to read ‘tricky’ (red words) on sight, to understand what they read, to read aloud with fluency and expression, to spell quickly and easily by segmenting the sounds in words to acquire good handwriting. There are also afternoon phonics sessions where children are grouped based on sound gap analysis to help them  make accelerated (if needed) progress through sounds.

In addition, children are taught to work effectively with a partner to explain and consolidate what they are learning. This provides the teacher with opportunities to assess learning and to pick up on difficulties, such as children’s poor articulation, or problems with blending or alphabetic code knowledge. Staff ensure that children are given the opportunity to take home books that are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and the ‘red words’. This is so that, early on, they experience success and gain confidence that they are readers in school and at home. Adults read stories to the children every day where a love of reading is promoted. 

Year 2: Children in Year 2 who have passed the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check and can read at 90 words a minute are taught RWI comprehension modules to develop their fluency and build their understanding of what they read.

Intervention: Those children who are not making the expected level of progress in phonics and reading will have 1:1 or small group interventions. The aim of these sessions is to ‘fast track’ children and help them to make expected progress. With RWI one-to-one tutoring for our slowest progress readers in YR to Y4 and RWI Fresh Start for those children inY5/6 that are below age-related expectations, we ensure that no child gets left behind.

Impact

Through the teaching of systematic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1. We regularly assess children so that they are taught in a RWI group which matches their phonic knowledge. We make sure that pupils read a range of books that are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ability to read ‘tricky words’; so they experience early reading success and gain confidence in their reading ability. The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check provides us with further insight into how many children can confidently decode and blend (read) words that are unfamiliar to them. If children do not pass the Year 1 Screening Check; we continue their phonics provision and intervention and they re-sit the check in Year 2.

Once children have been assessed as off the programme when they recognise the 40+  GPC’s on sight and can read 90 words a minute children can then focus on developing fluency and comprehension throughout the school and apply these skills in every subject especially in writing.