Plymtree Church of England Primary School

We teach early reading and writing through systematic synthetic phonics which shows children how to blend sounds to read and segment sounds to write. Our phonics teaching uses the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme  Children have discrete, daily phonics sessions in small groups where they participate in speaking, listening and spelling activities that are matched to their developing needs. During these phonics sessions children are introduced to new phonemes, can practise and revise previous learning and have plenty of opportunities to apply the knowledge they have. Children are encouraged to apply their knowledge in any reading or writing activities they may undertake across the curriculum, including during their Reading Practice Sessions.  Sight-recognition of words complements our teaching of phonics. Teachers draw upon observations and continuous assessment to ensure children are stretched and challenged and to identify children who may need additional support.

Our school reading scheme links closely with phonics lessons and targets the sounds children need to embed. 

We understand that parents and carers play a vital role in the development of early reading and in nurturing positive habits and attitudes towards reading. To consolidate our phonics learning we encourage parents and carers to share phonics-based books at home with their children on a daily basis and keep the same book for a minimum of three days. Reading the same text three times enables children to develop their fluency in the following ways:

• On the first read, children sound out and blend words to read them (Decoding).
• On the second read, children remember and read words from the day before, mostly on sight, incorporating expression and intonation (Prosody).
• By the third read, children will be more fluent enabling them to focus on their understanding of the text (Comprehension).

Interventions provide additional 1:1 reading time for those children who require it.