Phonics and Reading
Reading Leads - Mrs Hutchinson, Miss Gordon & Mrs McDermott
Reading Intent
At Button Lane Primary school we believes that reading is central to a child’s understanding of the school curriculum and of its vital importance in life. Fluent readers can engage critically with a range of texts, develop their ability to analyse, consider and question and also grow to love their language and comprehension skills.
We believe that a quality Literacy curriculum should develop children’s love of both reading and writing. We aim to develop a love and appreciation of reading and hope to achieve this through careful planning and teaching using up to date strategies. We use quality reading materials and resources within: phonics, writing lessons, whole class reading sessions and across the curriculum.
Building secure foundations in Literacy skills is crucial to a high quality education. We aim to equip our children with a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear progression as they move throughout our school. It is our prime intention to provide our children with the skills they need for future life and contribute to wider society.
At our school your child will:
- Develop phonetic skills which lead to blending and reading fluently.
- Build confidence and positive attitudes to reading.
- Enjoy the feeling of achievement gained by progressing through our recently enriched reading scheme.
- Experience reading for pleasure through the sharing of a class novel with regular visits to the school library.
- Be monitored through the use of a range of assessment strategies including informal assessments and formal testing as appropriate.
- Be supported to maximise their reading potential.
Implementation
At Button Lane we meet our schools aims and those of the National Curriculum through our well organised English curriculum. Within this, we ensure Reading is at the centre of all whole curriculum and all aspects of English through creating meaningful opportunities for Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening. We use a wide variety of high quality texts to motivate and inspire our children across all areas of the curriculum and find opportunities to promote reading for pleasure. We further enrich our reading curriculum through World Book Day, reading volunteers, our school and local library to enrich our children’s learning.
Early Reading
At Button Lane Primary School we believe that for all our children to become fluent readers and writers, phonics must be taught through a systematic and structured phonics programme
We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to plan and provide 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, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words that they might discover. At Button Lane we also model these strategies in shared reading and writing both inside and outside of the phonics lesson 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.
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 Year 1, 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.
- Year 1 lessons are 30 minutes long.
- In Year 2 and Year 3, phonic lessons are taught daily to children where appropriate – following the model of Little Wandle but plugging specific gaps identified through assessment.
- In Year 2 through to Year 6 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 taking place at least three times a week.
How do we assess phonic knowledge?
- In Reception and Year 1, at the end of each week there is a review session which recaps the learning. There are also whole review weeks (pre-planned and bespoke review weeks to address gaps identified by the class teacher’s ongoing formative assessment).
- Children identified in reception and Year 1 as in danger of falling behind are immediately identified and daily ‘keep up’ sessions are put in place – sessions follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
- In Reception and Year 1, the children are assessed at the end of every half term using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessment tracker.
- The children in Year 1 sit the Phonics Screening Check in the summer term.
- Children who do not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, will re-sit this in Year 2.
- Children who are in Year 2-Year 6 and need ‘catch up’ sessions are assessed through teacher’s ongoing formative assessment as well as half termly summative assessments.
Little Wandle Fluency
In Year 3 and the beginning of Year 4, reading is taught through the Little Wandle Fluency Programme. This programme supports children to develop fluency, accuracy and confidence in reading through carefully structured, high-quality texts.
Teaching focuses on developing automaticity, expression and understanding, ensuring children build secure reading foundations before moving on to more advanced comprehension work.
Teachers use formative assessment to identify any gaps in learning and provide support where needed. This may include pre-teaching vocabulary, revisiting texts or providing additional reading practice.
Pathways to Reading
From the spring term in Year 4 through to Year 6, children follow Pathways to Reading, which builds fluency alongside the development of key comprehension skills.
Children are taught a range of reading skills including vocabulary understanding, retrieval, inference, prediction, summarising, making connections, exploring author intent and comparing texts. These skills are explicitly taught and revisited regularly through a wide range of high-quality texts.
Teachers continue to use formative assessment to adapt teaching where necessary. This may include discussing texts in more detail, revisiting key sections or developing background knowledge to support understanding.
Interventions
Where children require additional support, targeted interventions are in place. These include:
- Better Reading Partners (BRP)
- Switched On Reading and Writing
- Phonics catch-up sessions
- Individual reading
- Small group interventions
Impact
Through the teaching of systematic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent and confident word readers by the end of Key Stage 1. By the end of Key Stage 2, we aim for children to be fluent, confident and competent readers who can access a wide range of texts for both pleasure and learning. We believe that reading is the key to all learning.
The Reading team is made up of 3 experienced teachers including one Senior Leader. They work closely with the Senior Leadership Team to monitor the Reading curriculum and the standards achieved by pupils. The Reading Leader ensures appropriate pitch, progression and consistency across school and uses this information to inform action planning, support and staff development.
The impact of our reading curriculum is measured through a robust cycle of teaching, learning and monitoring, which ensures that provision is consistently evaluated and improved.
Supporting at Home
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/
Phonics Curriculum Documents
If you would like more information, here is the Reception and Y1 programme of progression.
Reading and Phonics Curriculum Documents
Reading Corners
Books are at the heart of our school life and our curriculum at Button Lane. We want our pupils to discover their own genuine love of reading. Our reading corners form part of every classroom from our Early Years to Year 6 and contain specially selected texts for children to read and enjoy. All of our reading areas are intended to provide our children with a comfortable space to enjoy reading. Have a look at some of our reading areas across school.
