Intent
At The Oaks, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach children to read and write through a rigorous and consistent systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programme. Research has proven that teaching phonics is the best way to teach children to read, and reading is fundamental to a child's ability to be successful across all areas of school life and beyond.
Implementation
At The Oaks, we have introduced the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme, which draws on the latest research into how children learn best. We start teaching phonics in Nursery and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
Children are taught phonics lessons as a class every day, following the clear progression. Through careful daily and summative assessment, children are identified for additional phonics support if necessary to ensure progress, with the aim of no child falling behind and every child becoming a successful reader. Teaching phonics with fidelity to our chosen programme ensures learning stays in children’s long term memory and enables children to apply their learning to become competent readers and writers.
When the children have finished the Phonics programme within Year 2, they move onto coloured book bands and delve deeper into more complex comprehension. Reading comprehension is developed through high-quality shared-reading and discussion with the teacher during RIC (retrieve, infer, challenge) lessons. Year 2 pupils are introduced to a wide range of stories, poems and non-fiction.
Teaching reading: Reading practice sessions three times a week
Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have a Reading and Phonics Leader who drives the early reading programme in our school. These people are highly skilled at teaching phonics and reading, and they monitor and support our reading team, so everyone teaches with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
Impact
At The Oaks, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure.
Assessment:
Assessment is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support as soon as they need it.
We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose. Our children speak positively and enthusiastically about reading through their experience of high quality texts, weekly visits to our school library and being regularly read to by adults.
Ensuring reading for pleasure
‘Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s success.’ (OECD 2002)
‘The will influences the skill and vice versa.’ (OECD 2010)
We value reading for pleasure highly and work hard as a school to grow our Reading for Pleasure pedagogy.