Wide-ranging research shows that teaching phonics is the most effective approach for building early reading skills in Reception and Year 1. To allow our pupils to develop a strong phonic awareness, with the ability to blend and decode confidently, we have chosen to use a DfE validated synthetic phonics programme called Essential Letters and Sounds.
This systematic programme which gives opportunities for children to apply their developing knowledge through workbooks directly linked to the programme. As the children learn new graphemes (a letter or letters that represent a sound), they are given regular opportunities to apply their knowledge in context by reading books that are matched to content taught and their knowledge. Our reading curriculum promotes confidence by enabling children to read and re-read texts, developing decoding and comprehension skills as well as inspiring a love of reading.
Support to catch up
We monitor pupils closely through observations and assessment, identifying those who require further challenge or need additional support to keep up. Essential Letters Sounds has three interventions. These are: Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence GPCs, Blending for Reading and Oral Blending. Interventions are carefully planned through the regular assessment and monitoring of children's progress.
