READING & PHONICS POLICY
Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 , the ‘Letters and Sounds’ programme is used to systematically and thoroughly teach the skills of phonics. This programme is supplemented by other phonics resources, such as ‘Jolly Phonics’ and Oxford Reading Tree ‘Songbirds’ texts. The precise way in which phonics is taught ensures that the children quickly and successfully acquire a very good knowledge to enable them to develop as capable readers and more confident writers.
Phonics is a key aspect of teaching and learning and as they progress through Key Stage 1 the children begin to develop their Literacy skills in reading and writing, to a more complex degree.
A variety of phonics and key skill resources are used to aid teaching and learning in Key Stage 2. The children are exposed to many different text genres in reading and writing. The core reading and writing skills are developed and practiced in a variety of ways – shared reading/writing, guided reading/writing, paired work, modeled work and independent tasks.
The selection of reading scheme books provides children with opportunities to develop and practice their reading. There are a variety of styles and texts and different genres. Children progress through the levels of the reading scheme as they develop in ability and understanding. There are different published schemes within the school reading books, such as Ginn and Oxford Reading Tree. The books are organized into progressively developmental levels, using phonic decoding ability, high frequency word content, complexity of content and age or capability appropriate content as guides to ensure that the children are able to practice or develop their skills. The reading scheme books provide great opportunities for children to widen their reading experiences and help them to learn it is important to read for pleasure as well as to learn.