Phonics

Intent

At Keevil CofE Academy, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers and that the first step on this journey is ensuring that children have a secure understanding of phonics.  This enables children to know and apply the relationships between letters and sounds within their reading and writing.  We use the Little Wandle Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme to achieve this.  For more information about the scheme please see the video and documents produced by Little Wandle at the bottom of the page. For more information about the scheme please see the video and documents produced by Little Wandle at the bottom of the page.

Implementation

At Keevil we have invested in high-quality training for all staff in the delivery of the Little Wandle synthetic phonics programme. 

Children in YR and Y1 have daily phonics sessions.  Within these, the children begin by hearing and saying the sounds in words and then learn the codes (letters) that create each sound. This is their foundation in both reading and writing.

Keep-Up sessions are run daily for any child who needs additional practice, to ensure that they are progressing at the expected rate.

Children in Y2 and above who are not fully fluent at reading or did not pass the Phonics screening check, receive regular focused interventions to enable them to close the gap with their peers.

As part of the phonics programme, children in YR and Y1 take part in group reading sessions three times each week.  Each session has a clear focus, and is designed to teach one of the three key reading skills:

• Decoding
• Prosody – teaching children to read with understanding and expression
• Comprehension – teaching children to understand the text

In the Early Years and Year 1 classes, the children take home books to consolidate the code/sound they are learning in each unit. They also take home a book for challenge and one for pleasure. The children continue in this way until their teacher feels they are ready to read more complex texts.

Impact

Assessment is used to monitor progress and identify any child needing additional support, in order to achieve our aim of all children mastering age-appropriate phonics knowledge and skills, and becoming fluent readers and writers.

We use the following methods of assessment:

• Assessment for learning – during classroom sessions, to identify children needing Keep-Up support or challenge.
• Summative assessment – regular assessments are carried out to identify knowledge that children have secured and any gaps in learning that need to be addressed for individuals or groups.

Children sit the statutory Phonics screening check in Y1.  Any child who does not pass the check re-sits it in Y2.

Click here to visit Little Wandle's information for parents

For more information about the teaching and learning of phonics and early reading in our school, please look at our policy document below.