Phonics and Reading

We believe that success in reading opens doors to a world of knowledge and wonder.

At Hobletts Manor Infants' and Nursery we strive for our children to be independent and resilient but to know that, when things seem overwhelming, there is always a guiding hand available from everyone in our school community. We aim to create successful citizens of the future who have a positive mind set and are resilient and prepared for their journey through the ever-changing world in which we live. Reading is a complex skill with many components. Successful approaches to the teaching of reading should encourage children to use a variety of strategies in their pursuit of meaning.  It is important to lay firm foundations in this crucial area of the curriculum and establish a consistent whole school approach to the teaching of reading.

Here at Hobletts Manor, we aim to:

• Teach all children to read.
• To develop a love of books and reading.
• To develop reading strategies and skills: fluency, accuracy, understanding and
  response to different texts.
• Develop children`s experiences through a variety of text including the use of libraries, ICT and other available media.
• Develop the ability to use and manipulate a variety of texts, both fiction and non-fiction.
• To create a strong, embedded reading culture through a rich language environment within classrooms and the wider school environment.
• To deliver a structured and consistent whole school approach to reading.
• To recognise the value of parents / carers as essential components in supporting and developing children’s reading skills and love of reading.
• To rigorously monitor and assess children’s progress in reading and identify those who require extra support and intervene at an early stage.

We follow the Essential Letters and Sounds scheme of phonics teaching. Each child in Reception and Yr1 has a daily, minimum 20-30 minute phonics lesson, following the teaching sequence of review, teach, practise and apply. In Yr2, children access a balance of both phonic and spelling punctuation and grammar (SPAG) lessons based on their individual needs and attainment. Reception and KS1 children are mainly taught as a whole class or sometimes put into small groups, based on regular assessments so that children’s learning needs are accurately matched to the correct provision. Small phonic sessions or interventions are delivered by teaching assistants or the class teacher.
In a session, children are taught either phonemes, digraphs, trigraphs, high frequency and/or hard to read words and these are consolidated through reading and writing. There are lots of opportunities to speak and listen, as well as to read and write the sounds.

At the end of Year 1 children have to take the national Phonics Test which tests children’s phonic knowledge. Here, they are required to read real and nonsense words, applying the skills they have learnt. Ideally children will have completed and consolidated Phase 5 during Year 1 and Phase 6 during Year 2, so that they can focus more on higher-level comprehension using increasingly challenging texts.

The Teaching of Reading

The teaching of reading starts as soon as our children enter Nursery.  We offer a language rich environment where adults model the use of language excellently and encourage and support children to use it appropriately.  We have a broad and exciting range of books in school that reflects our diverse community.  These include the much loved favourites to newer modern classics.  For us, fostering a love of reading, begins with all children having the skills they need to read.  

In Reception and KS1, all children take part in regular reading lessons that focus on promoting the children’s phonics knowledge and decoding at word level, reading for enjoyment, developing reading stamina, and exploring texts to improve comprehension skills. Children are engaged in reading a variety of carefully selected books within a group setting or a whole class setting. 

Reception and Year One

In Reception and Year One, teachers model early print concepts and the phonics first approach to decoding unfamiliar words.  Children  have regular opportunities to read and reread decodeable books matched closely to their phonetic knowledge.  This rereading helps to develop decoding confidence and fluency.  Through shared reading sessions, teachers model reading with prosody (expression) at a good pace in order to promote fluency which in turn, supports the development of comprehension. 

At the start of Year One, children continue to regularly read closely matched phonics books in pairs, small groups and as a class.  This is a continuation of good practice from Reception to aid transition. Children read with the class teacher regularly so the teacher can hear each child read and chart progress which informs teachers’ future planning. 

Year 2

To begin with, the children in Year Two follow the same format as they do at the end of Year One by reading with the class teacher in a small group once a week. 

Further on into the year, ‘Whole Class Reading’ is taught. Teachers select high quality texts that are read aloud each day. A mixture of echo, choral, paired and independent reading strategies are used to support the development of fluency throughout the week which improves children's skills and confidence.  Developing children's use and understanding of new vocabulary is integral to these sessions.  The class teacher hears every child read throughout the week.  Teachers ensure that key comprehension skills are focused on and developed thoroughly throughout these sessions. 

In class children are exposed to a variety of questions and learn the skills needed to answer them and develop their reading comprehension through these 5 key areas. The approach allows our pupils to encounter a wide range of high quality texts, engage with reading in an enjoyable, exciting way and improve their reading skills and articulate responses all at once.

Comprehension skills:

• draw on knowledge of vocabulary to understand texts
• identify / explain key aspects of fiction and non-fiction texts, such as characters, events, titles and information
• identify and explain the sequence of events in texts
• make inferences from the text
• predict what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far