Phonics

At Briercliffe Primary School, phonics is taught daily to all children in Reception and Key Stage One. We follow the systematic synthetic phonics programme ' Fast Track phonics is delivered as an intervention program in EYFS and Year 1. Red Rose Letters and Sounds'. Bounce back phonics is delivered in year 2, 3 and 4 to support children who require additional support with phonics.

Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully. They are taught how to:

• Recognise the sounds that individual letters make
• Identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make-such as 'sh' or 'oo'
• Blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word

Children can then use this knowledge to 'decode' new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.          

                                       

The children are taught to read words by blending, which means pushing all the sounds together to make a word.  The children are taught to spell words by segmenting, which means sounding out words and writing down the sounds they can hear. 

By the end of Reception, children are expected to be secure in Phase Three. By the end of Year One, children are expected to be secure in Phase Five. When finishing Key Stage One, most children at Briercliffe should be secure in Phase Six. This phase moves away from learning sounds and focusses on spelling rules and patterns. Our children do well in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check and by Year 2, the majority are fluent readers with the best chance of success at the end of Key Stage 1 tests.

Children are given accurately matched, fully decodable home reading books that allow them to apply their phonic knowledge and practice reading at home with their parents. The books contain only the phonemes which the children have already been taught so far, and leave nothing for the children to 'guess' when reading (which can often lead to errors).  The exception to this is for children receiving intervention who are not currently working at age-related expectations. They will take home readers home that match the learning covered in intervention sessions. We believe it is important for children to experience success when reading these books, and they must be celebrated for reading them fluently at home. Allow them to show off their reading ability to you and share the joy of reading together! For queries relating to reading at Briercliffe, please contact our Phonics Lead, Miss Slater.

Reading for Pleasure

At Briercliffe, reading for pleasure is at the heart of our curriculum and central to our culture. In line with the National Curriculum, we promote a love of reading through carefully planned opportunities that encourage pupils to explore a wide range of texts independently and with enthusiasm. Pupils are empowered to make personal reading choices and share their reading recommendations. This enjoyment supports the development of fluent, confident readers and enriches vocabulary, comprehension, and imagination. As noted in Ofsted guidance, we recognise that reading widely and often is key to academic success and lifelong learning – and here, it’s also a joy.