Early Reading and Phonics
Lead - Camilla Jeffrey
Intent
Reading is an essential life skill, therefore at Holy Trinity we aim to ensure that every child is confident with reading fluency and comprehension in order to successfully access their next year group/ key stage and beyond. We develop a passion for reading to ensure a lifelong habit.
Implementation
We use Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) as our systematic, synthetic phonics programme.
We use this SSP because it provides:
· A daily 30-minute phonics lesson in Reception and Year 1
· Clear progression with signposting of expected progress
· Planning and supporting resources
· On demand CPD, accessible for all staff
· Half termly assessments and online tracker tool
· Three interventions to ensure that any learning gaps are quickly filled
· Fully decodable books matched exactly to the progression
Application of phonics to reading
To ensure pupils can apply their phonics to reading, the SSP provides children with, with a review lesson on day 5 of each week. Children read a decodable reader that matches the week of teaching with a focus on decoding, prosody and comprehension. In addition to this, pupils are exposed to high quality texts across the curriculum to support opportunities for the application of their phonic knowledge.
Impact
To ensure fidelity to the program and consistency throughout the school, leaders ensure that:
· Staff receive regular training
· Half termly assessments are monitored place appropriate intervention planned
· Parents are provided with information throughout the year about how to support their child
· Learning walks provide opportunities for both formal and informal feedback
· We regularly invest in new literature for reading for pleasure
As a result of this, pupils make good progress from their starting points and teaching and learning is consistent.
If you are a parent/carer and would like to find out more about Essential, Letters and Sounds please visit the Oxford Owl for Home website so you can see the list of sounds in the order they’ll be taught:
