Phonics
Scheme
Intent
At Knowle Park, we recognise that being able to read is the most important skill children will learn during their early schooling and has far-reaching implications for lifelong goals, confidence and well-being. The combination of phonics teaching, effective interventions and access to phonetically decodable books provides all children with the chance to develop the starting point they need as they begin their journey in education.
Implementation
At Knowle Park Primary, we use Unlocking letters and sounds to teach phonics.
We use phonics to decode words to enable us to read with fluency. We segment words and use our phonics to spell words confidently. We are able to read and spell words we find tricky. We use phonics to read and write sentences in all areas of learning.
Being able to read is the most important skill children will learn during their early schooling and has far-reaching implications for lifelong confidence and well-being. The independent review of early reading conducted by Jim Rose confirmed that ‘high quality phonic work’ should be the prime means for teaching children how to read and spell words.
At KPPS, we are committed to following Unlocking Letters and Sounds, using their online resources.
To ensure there is consistency across classes and year groups, we follow the structure of: Revisit and Review/ Teach/ Practise/ Apply in every lesson.
Children start phonics as soon as they begin full time in Reception in order to give them a secure start in reading. In Reception, they work through these phases of Unlocking Letters and Sounds:
In Y1, children continue to work through these phases of Unlocking Letters and Sounds:
In Y2, children continue to work through these phases of Unlocking Letters and Sounds:
At this point phonics teaching will continue as an intervention for those children who still require it. Year 2 children will move on to learning spelling using the Rising Stars Scheme.
Ongoing, regular assessments enable teachers to identify the lowest 20% of children. These children may change as regular assessments will show progress and monitor gaps. Targeted children are supported by the LSA on the carpet and children identified as needing support have a 1 to 1 Precision Teaching Session, 2-3 times a week.
After regular assessments, children take home phonetically decodable reading books from the phase they are decoding at, to match their individual phonics progression.
For more information on reading, see ‘A Guide to Teaching Reading at KPPS’. For more resources including videos of phonics lessons, see the ‘Phonics’ folder on teams.
Impact