At Ladywood Primary, we know that high quality phonics teaching and learning is vital to children’s success with reading and writing
To support us in teaching Phonics we use the Pearl Phonics scheme, with lessons being called Learning to Read and Spell.
Throughout Early Years and Key stage 1 reading and spelling is taught in a systematic way, following the Pearl Phonics validated programme, It aims to build children’s speaking and listening skills as well as preparing children for learning to read and spell by developing their phonics knowledge and skills.
The children learn phase 2-4 in Reception and then delve into the complex code, phase 5, within year 1. Due to the change in scheme, some children in both year 2 and 3 will continue to learn some of the phase 5 graphemes to embed, previously taught graphemes.
In Reception, children experience a taught daily phonics session, five times a week, as well as being immersed in phonics throughout other areas of learning. We teach 4-5 new phonemes (letter sounds) per week and have a focus on reading and writing them, each day. Alongside this, we incorporate high frequency words (tricky words) in which we learn to read and recognise them.
In Year 1, the children have a taught daily phonics lesson five days a week. The Pearl Phonics programme, provides daily progression and ensures children can build on prior learning each week. Children will continue their Learning to Read and Spell journey as they move into Year 2 to allow for phase 5 graphemes to become further embedded before moving on to spelling lessons.
We strive to create fluent able readers, who are confident and show a love of reading. To help us to achieve this, we use decodable reading books throughout the Early Years and KS1. These are closely aligned to the letters and sounds phonics lessons, that are delivered daily and are designed to allow children to read using the sounds and phonemes that they already know. This may mean that children will be re-reading books that they have read in previous years, to ensure that the books they are reading fully align to the work that we are completing in phonics lessons.
When a child reads, if they struggle to decode words and cannot read fluently, then comprehension is lost. The decodable books, allow pupils to practise the sounds that they already know, whilst building confidence, understanding and fluency. Through reading these, all children achieve success and this in turn builds enthusiasm and a love of reading. The books are a combination of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, to give pupils access to a wide range of genres and to broaden their reading library.