Phonics Curriculum

At Woodley Primary School, our vision for phonics is that every child will confidently leave KS1 being able to read, underpinning our ethos that everyone can achieve.

We strive to promote a love of learning and high standards of language, literacy and vocabulary, by equipping our children with a strong command of the spoken and written language. Phonics is a life skill that will help our young learners feel empowered to ‘reach for the stars’ and be the best that they can be, in order for them to develop their independence and flourish in today’s world.

We have adopted the Phonics Shed scheme, which aims to foster a love of reading and writing through its strong, character-based narratives and engaging, multi-sensory activities. It is split into four chapters and is used from Nursery to Year 2.

Children engage in a daily phonics lesson where they meet a new character and explore a new song and story, which helps them to recall new learning. We explore sound and symbol relationships, in order to recognise words and teach children how to segment and blend, working towards the ultimate goal of being able to read words with a level of automaticity. When children can read successfully they are able to use different sources of information to comprehend the message that is being given through print. Our use of books, objects, puppets and interactive activities helps to develop our children’s love of literature, creativity and enjoyment of reading.

Overview

Phonics Overview

Pupils Voice

Reception

 

  • Do you enjoy phonics and why?

‘I like phonics because sometimes I can feel confident’ – Ellie

‘I like reading tricky words and learning new sounds’ – Cobie

‘I like it because it give you confidence in your brain’ – Eva

  • What makes a good reader?

‘Mummy or daddy help you’ – Cobie

‘When reading a story you might get confident at it’ – Eva

  • What opportunities do you get to read?

‘Home time’ – Lilia

‘Playtime’ – Cobie

‘You know we have a reading area that’s there’ – Eva

  • What support do you get when reading with prompts of ‘How do you get help?’ and ‘How do you improve?’

‘Carry on trying’ – Lilia

‘Put your hand up’ – Ellie

‘Ask a teacher’ – Cobie

Year 1

 

  • What is phonics?

‘Where you learn new sounds, sometimes trigraphs’ – Walter

‘Learn letters and diagraphs’ – Lydia

  • Do you enjoy phonics and why?

‘Yes because you can learn new sounds and communicate clearly’ – Walter

‘Yes definitely, it’s really fun’ – Lydia

  • Why is it important?

‘Learn how to spell other words you didn’t know before’ – Walter

‘Learn how to spell for college so you can write’ – Lydia

  • Do you have a phonic display?

‘Yes, we have the sound of the day and if you forget you can just go and have a look’ – Walter

  • What makes a good reader?

‘Practising a lot’ – Walter

‘Practising every day and at home as well’ – Lydia

  • What support do you get when reading with prompts of ‘How do you get help?’ and ‘How do you improve?’

‘If phonics is on the board I would just look at the board’ – Walter

‘Look at the little board and then I can remember what to do’ – Lydia