Phonics

At Grove Road, we have high expectations of all children and the aim of our phonics teaching is to ensure they have a firm foundation on which to build reading skills.

Phonics is taught systematically every day in the Early Years and Year 1 classes. From Year 2, the approach is carried on in spelling sessions and also in intervention programmes for children who need extra support.

High-quality phonics teaching helps children develop their reading, writing, spelling and general communication skills. It helps secure the crucial skills of word recognition that enable children to read fluently, allowing them to concentrate on the meaning of the text. Activities are designed to teach word decoding and recognition skills as well as comprehension skills.

Beginner readers are taught:

• Grapheme-phoneme correspondences in clear stages (linking spellings and sounds).
• The important skill of blending (synthesising) phonemes.
• Segmenting words into their constituent phonemes to aid reading and spelling.

The teaching of phonics is systematic. It follows a carefully structured programme building on previous learning to secure children´s progress in line with the guidance given in ‘Letters and Sounds’. It is taught discretely and daily at a brisk pace. There are opportunities to apply phonic knowledge and skills across the curriculum and in activities such as whole class and guided reading, as well as reading independently. The children´s progress in developing and applying their phonic knowledge is carefully assessed and monitored. This systematic sequencing and cycling is reflected in our Phonics Flowcharts, used by teachers to deliver high quality phonics lessons in school.

We have a consistent and rigorous approach to teaching phonics and refer to the key document ‘Letters and Sounds’ to sequence and uplevel phonics sessions – from Phase 1 in Nursery right through to Phase 6 in Key Stage 1 where children start to come away from phonetic plausibility in favour of spelling strategies. Across Early Years and Key Stage 1, we also love using the Bug Club and Phonics Bug software to support our teaching and home-learning. 

There are a wide range of reading books in classrooms and the school library. The principal reading schemes of the school are Oxford Reading Tree, Bug Club and Accelerated Reader (in older year groups), alongside other schemes so that we can cater for the interests and needs of all our children.  We encourage parents to read frequently with their children using their school reading books and books from home.

We have a consistent and rigorous approach to teaching phonics and refer to the key document ‘Letters and Sounds’ to sequence and uplevel phonics sessions – from Phase 1 in Nursery right through to Phase 6 in Key Stage 1 where children start to come away from phonetic plausibility in favour of spelling strategies. Across Early Years and Key Stage 1, we also love using the Bug Club and Phonics Bug software to support our teaching and home-learning. 

There are a wide range of reading books in classrooms and the school library. The principal reading schemes of the school are Oxford Reading Tree, Bug Club and Accelerated Reader (in older year groups), alongside other schemes so that we can cater for the interests and needs of all our children.  We encourage parents to read frequently with their children using their school reading books and books from home.

Our Phonics Scheme

Phonics Screening Check

Towards the end of Year 1, children must sit the Phonics Screening Check. Within this, they must read 20 ‘real’ words and 20 ‘pseudo’ (made up) words to demonstrate their phonic knowledge and decoding skills. This will always be completed in a safe space with a trusted adult. To find out more about this, please look at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPJ_ZEBh1Bk