Phonics and Reading

Reading

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. In education, the term "Matthew effect" describes a phenomenon observed in research on how new readers acquire the skills to read: early success in acquiring reading skills usually leads to later successes in reading as the learner grows, while failing to learn to read before the third or fourth year of schooling may be indicative of lifelong problems in learning new skills. 

This is because children who fall behind in reading read less, increasing the gap between them and their peers. Later, when students need to "read to learn" (where before they were learning to read), their reading difficulty creates difficulty in most other subjects. In this way they fall further and further behind in school. This follows through to adulthood where young people who learn well tend to get higher paid jobs than those who do not. The demographics in Barnsley where 40% of the local population have no education qualifications, with long term unemployment figures being persistently above borough, regional and national levels and most employment is in the entry level areas of retail, wholesale and construction means that the efficient and effective learning of reading has to be at the core of our curriculum. 

At Bank End Primary School , we want our children to: 
  • Become fluent, confident and expressive readers who have both the skill and the will to read effectively 

  • Read with enjoyment across a range of genres 

  • Read for pleasure as well as for information 

  • Read and respond to a wide range of different types of literature 

  • Understand the layout and how to use different genres and text types 

  • Understand and apply their knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns and use this to decode words with accuracy 

  • Build their bank of sight words to enable fluent reading 

  • Have an interest in words and their meanings, developing a rich and varied vocabulary 

  • Understand and respond to literature drawn from a range of cultures and literary heritage. 

Our school understands the challenge that exists between teaching children to be fluent readers whilst ensuring that we support them to develop a life-long love of reading. To this end, we have worked hard to ensure that our reading scheme is congruent with the phonic phases and the sequence of teaching. Our reading curriculum is designed to achieve a balance between develop the Instructional Agenda (the skill) and the Pleasure Agenda (the will). This policy intends to promote a love of reading for all pupils whilst creating life-long readers who have the skills to access all areas of the curriculum with independence and confidence so that they go on to be successful in Key Stage 3, 4 and beyond. 

Our reading curriculum is also planned in a way which promotes the cultural capital of all our children. We enhance our curriculum, especially for the most disadvantaged, by providing access to a diverse range of texts including those which promote different socio-economic backgrounds, disabilities, religions and cultures, and periods of history. Each year we plan to provide opportunities for pupils to watch and take part in theatre productions and have guest authors and poets into school. 

Implementation

Reading at Bank End Primary Academy is taught systematically. Some teaching strategies  are generic across the whole school, whilst others are specific to key stages. Implementation is by the class teacher and is supported by classroom teaching assistants. 

Phonics from the Start

Intent 

Reading is at the very heart of our curriculum and is given the highest priority in order to ensure that all pupils, regardless of background, succeed in reading. At Bank End Primary Academy, we are passionate that every child in our school will become a competent, confident reader with an authentic love of reading. Our reading curriculum is based on extensive research, particularly the work of Ruth Miskin (Read, Write Inc) and the work of Christopher Such. Pedagogy has been developed in order to enable children to become expert readers as they move through school and into adulthood, thus providing them with improved life chances. 

At Bank End Primary Academy, our children will be taught to: 

  • understand and apply their knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns using this to decode words with accuracy;
  • build a bank of sight words to enable fluent reading;
  • become fluent, confident and expressive readers who have both the skill and the will to read effectively;
  • understand what they read showing a solid understanding that text carries meaning;
  • compare, contrast and comment on texts read;
  • understand the etymology of words and their meanings, developing a rich and varied vocabulary;
  • understand the layout of texts and how to navigate different genres and text types;
  • demonstrate understanding of what they have read through answering a range of different question types;
  • read for information across the wider curriculum;
  • read for pleasure responding to a wide range of different types of literature.

 Our reading curriculum is planned to promote the cultural capital of all our children. We enhance our curriculum, especially for the most disadvantaged, by providing access to a diverse range of texts including those which promote different socio-economic backgrounds, relationships, family circumstances, disabilities, religions and cultures, and periods of history. Opportunities are planned for pupils to experience and take part in theatre productions and have guest authors and poets into school.  

 Implementation  

 Reading at Bank End Primary Academy is taught through a systematic process that is centred around children becoming life-long readers. 

 Phonics from the Start 

 Our children begin learning the skills for early reading from the very moment they walk through our door. In Nursery, our children are immersed in a language-rich environment, along with pre-phonic activities, in readiness for accessing the Read, Write, Inc Programme in during their first and second term. This is used alongside a carefully designed environment that allows children to explore their interests in reading and phonics and provides them with many different opportunities to practice, re-visit and consolidate their ever-growing phonic skills and knowledge.  

 There are seven aspects taught in pre phonics lessons 

  1. Environmental Sounds 
  2. Instrumental Sounds 
  3. Body Percussion 
  4. Rhythm and Rhyme 
  5. Alliteration 
  6. Voice Sounds 
  7. Blending and Segmenting

 All the aspects are taught through group times and total immersion in a rich language environment. We aim to do this by providing an immersive nursery experience inclusive of lots of rhymes, singing time, rhyming stories, clapping rhythms, musical instruments taught through play at every opportunity. Informal ways to explore letters: e.g. sounds of the week, phonics awareness through modelling writing, or sounding out words. 

We also use short discrete group times to model a variety of activities with all 7 aspects taught during the week and use carefully chosen books every day to over learn rhyming words and voice sounds. We encourage children to join in, especially with the repetitive parts to build confidence and learn. 

 Decoding: Moving on with Phonics 

All children start formal phonics teaching and learning in Nursery in their third term of being in Nursery using the Read, Write, Inc programme. All our staff are highly trained to deliver this. It is taught daily, systematically both through whole class teaching and discrete groups. 

It is important that the teaching of reading is matched to the teaching of phonics. As such, all children have a banded reading book that matches the sounds they have learnt, or are learning, in their phonics lessons.

Phonics

Strategies and Aims for Early Years and Key Stage 1 

 

 

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