Phonics

The subject lead for Phonics is Mrs Janet Duffey.

Intent:

At Ampney Crucis Church of England Primary School we use the validated Twinkl Phonics scheme.  This scheme sets out a detailed and systematic programme for teaching phonic skills in our Recetion, Year 1 and Year 2 classes, and we aim for children to be fluent readers by the end of Year 2.  Those children who may need further support, will have Twinkl Phonics interventions in KS2.  

Reading is a skill that helps to develop vocabulary and improve the understanding of words. In our phonics lessons, children will learn the relationship between the letters and sounds.  English has 26 letters, however we have 44 phonemes (sounds) in the English alphabetic code. Children first learn one way to read these sounds, then learn to read the same sounds but with alternative graphemes (the written symbol which represents the sound).  Teaching children to recognise the sounds each letter, or group of letters make, and how to put them together, enables them to read.  It also helps with spelling as they learn how to break up words into sounds in order to spell them.  The idea around synthetic phonics, is that once children are comfortable with the letters and sounds that make up words, children should even be able to read 'nonsense' or 'Alien' words that don't exist in the English language.  

Implementation:

By using the Twinkl Phonics scheme we deliver a phonics scheme which is clear with a structured progression throughout the programme.  This allows for our pupils to meet or exeed the expected standard. 

The Twinkl Phonics programme is split into 6 levels:

Reception - Level 1, 2, 3 & 4,

Year 1 - Level 5

Year 2 - Level 6

We believe that children learn best when they are enjoying their learning, and this comes from a mix of bright. fun and engaging lesson resources, within a clear and systematic approach that builds on children's skills daily. 

The structure of every Twinkl Phonics lesson follows a familiar five-part structure to ensure that the four cornerstones of phonics are covered.  During our phonics lessons, children will repeat the elements from the four cornerstones of phonics to ensure that they have rapid and automatic recall of grapheme-phoneme correspondences and the tricky exception words.  Every day they will experience blending and segmenting activities to allow regular practice of these core skills. 

Phonics is taught daily to all Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children.  In Reception the length of the phonics session will increase over the year and by the end of Reception children will be spending about 1 hour a day consolidating previous learning, learning new content and practising and applying what they have learnt.  This will consist of a mixture of carpet time and follow up activities.  Phonics opportunities will also form part of our continuous provision for children to access throughout the day during their Explore and Learn time.  In Year 1 and Year 2, phonics lessons will be about 1 hour every day.  Some children in Key Stage 2 my need some discrete phonics sessions, and if this is the case they will receive a daily 20 minute intervention session delivered using the Twinkl Phonics Decoders interventions. Children will be regularly assessed to ensure they are receiving phonics teaching at the correct level.  

Impact:

Children will be assessed on their knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondences and tricky words each half term.  Blending and segmenting assessments will also be carried out to ensure children have the skills securely in place for reading and spelling.

Each teacher will maintain records of children's achievement and regular pupil progress meetings will be held with the Headteacher to identify children who may need additional support.  Children's progress will be discussed with parents/carers at Parent Evening meetings and a written report for parents will be provided at the end of the school year.  

Reading Books:

Children in Reception, Year 1 and 2 will bring home a phonics matched book from Twinkl Rhino Readers which matches the phonics scheme and what they have been learning in class.  They will also choose a book of their choice, from the school library, to share at home.  These will be changed weekly.  Parental involvement is key in supporting your children's reading journey.  Please ensure you record in your child's reading diary when you have read with them at home. 

Thank you to all of you who attended our Reading Workshops and Cafes at the beginning of the year.  It is really important that you understand how we are teaching your chidren to read so as we can develop a cohesive whole-school approach to the teaching of phonics.  Please click on the following links to ensure you know how to correctly pronounce each phoneme, so as you can confidently support your child in their reading journey:

Level 2 sound pronunciation and actions

Level 3 sound pronunciation and actions

Level 5 sound pronunciation and actions

Level 6 sound pronunciation and actions