The teaching of Phonics and Early Reading

Intent

At St Cuthbert’s CE Primary School reading is at the very heart of our curriculum as we recognise it is the key to success in all subject areas.  Emphasis is placed on Early Reading from the very moment the children enter our school in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Children are immersed in a language rich environment which places great value on listening to stories and rhymes from the very beginning.  Children develop the key prerequisite skills required in order to develop solid phonological awareness. We recognise that having a good understanding of the auditory components enables children to develop the listening and attention skills required to distinguish between discrete units of spoken sound.   

Through our ELS Systematic Synthetic Approach to the teaching of Phonics and Early Reading children acquire the critical knowledge that is essential, not only for reading, but for spelling.  In addition, high quality Phonics teaching supports the development of Early Writing skills.  The direct teaching of Phonics, Early Reading and Writing is a high priority and takes place on a daily basis with additional opportunities to apply their knowledge built in to the curriculum.

At St Cuthbert’s we believe that through the satisfaction they gain from decoding words successfully, children develop a love of reading.  Revisiting high quality decodable texts, which are carefully matched to each individual’s growing phonic knowledge, enables children to develop the automaticity and fluency needed to comprehend and become immersed in stories.  To allow this to happen, children are exposed to high quality Essential Letters and Sounds Oxford Reading Scheme books, covering a range of different genres and interests.  The texts available to children for both school and home reading purposes are updated regularly. Half termly 1:1 assessments ensure that children’s books are matched closely to individual levels of ability.