Carlton Hill Primary School

Please also see our reading rationale and our writing rationale.

‘A synthetic phonics programme, as a part of the reading curriculum, has a major and long lasting effect on children’s reading and spelling attainment.’ Johnston and Watson, 2005

Phonics in our own words

How children should be taught to read will always be the subject of debate. At Carlton Hill Primary School, we believe that children will be more successful at reading and writing if they have a sound grasp of phonics from an early age. Therefore, we teach synthetic phonics as part of our broad reading curriculum. When we talk about phonics we say: ‘Phonics gives us the tools to read and spell new words’.

As beneficial as phonics is, it remains one of a range of tools that are essential for children to become successful readers and writers. To find out more about reading and writing in our English curriculum please read our ‘Teaching and Learning Policy’. There is also plenty of useful information in our reading guide for parents and carers - you can find it just above this rationale.

What is phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully. Children are taught how to recognise the sound that each individual letter makes. Children are also taught to identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make (‘sh’ or ‘oo’). Children learn to blend these sounds from left to right to make a word, and this is an important step in learning to read. For example, when taught the phonemes /t/ /p/ /a/ and /s/ the children can build up the words ‘tap’, ‘pat’, ‘pats’, ‘taps’, ‘a tap’ and so on.  Children sound each letter in turn and then synthesise the sounds together in order to generate the pronunciation of the word. In other words, children learn to construct the pronunciation for themselves. Many of the letter sound correspondences can be taught in Reception. This means that children in Reception start to read lots of unfamiliar words for themselves, independently.

How is our phonics teaching sequence organised?

Reception  

By the end of Reception, we aim for all children to be secure within Bug Club units 1 –11 (phase 2 and phase 3) and working within unit 12 (phase 4). We aim to meet the following Early Learning Goals from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework:

• Children can read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by blending
• They can read simple sentences using their phonic knowledge and some Common Exception Words 

Teaching sequence:

• All children are taught bug club phase 2 units 1 (s a t p), 2 (i n m d), 3 (g o c k), 4 (ck e u r) and 5 (h b f ff l ll ss) during daily phonics sessions
• Once children have mastered above units, children move on to phase 3 units 6 (j v w x), 7 (y z zz qu), 8 (ch sh th ng), 9 (ai ee igh oa oo oo), 10 (ar or ur ow oi) and 11 (ear air ure er)
• When children are ready, they begin phase 4, unit 12 (consonant clusters).
• Children take part in 1-1 reading at school.
• Teachers display phase 2 and 3 sound and picture cards.
• Children use phase 2 and 3 sound mats.

Phonics resources available at home:

• We send home phonics books including weekly tasks, using the same sound and picture cards (from Bug Club) that we use at school.
• Flashcards are sent home until s, a, t, p, I, n, m, d are taught, and then decodable books are sent home. 
• Bug Club phonics books (fully decodable) and/or other levelled books (fully decodable) are sent home at correct phonic stage for each child. 
• In addition, all children take rich books from class library or school library to share at home.  
• Parents given access to online Bug Club books and resources at home.
• All children have reading diaries for use at school and at home.

Year 1

By the end of Year 1, we aim for all children to be working within phase 5 and secure with Bug Club units up to unit 24.

Teaching sequence:

• All children continue to take part in a daily phonics lesson.  
• Children still consolidating units 1 to 11 continue to have 1:1 reading using Bug Club phonics books (fully decodable) and/or other levelled books (fully decodable).
• Guided reading will begin for children on set 12 and above using Bug Club phonics packs (fully decodable).
• Low attaining readers will also get 1:1 Reading Recovery (find out more about this below). with the reading specialist teacher, using a mixture of phonic, patterned text and key words books.  
• Teachers display phase 2, 3 and 5 (as appropriate) picture and sound cards.
• Children use sound mats.

Phonics resources available at home:

• We send home Bug Club phonics books (fully decodable) and/or other levelled books (fully decodable) at the correct phonic stage for each child. 

• In addition, all children take rich books from class library or school library to ‘share’ at home.  
• Parents are given access to online Bug Club books and resources at home 
• All children have reading diaries for use at school and at home.

Year 2

By the end of Year 2, we aim for all children to have completed all bug club units. In other words, we aim for all children to be secure with phase 6 (the final phase).

Teaching sequence:

• All children continue to take part in a daily phonics lesson. Most children are expected to be working within units 13 to 27 and working towards completing all of the Bug Club units. 
• Children still consolidating units 1 to 11 continue to have 1:1 reading using Bug Club phonics books (fully decodable) and other fully decodable levelled books.
• All other children join in Guided Reading, using Bug Club phonics packs (fully decodable) AND Bug Club Guided Reading sets (decodable). These can then be supplemented using colour banded reading sets from green and above. 
• Low attainers will take part in additional 1:1 Reading Recovery with the Reading Specialist teacher, using a mixture of phonic, patterned text and key words books.  
• Teachers display phase 3 and 5 (as appropriate) picture and sound cards.
• Teachers display phase 2 letters only as useful, for example b/d.
• Teachers may display phase 2- 5 poster if useful.
• Children use sound mats.

Phonics resources available at home:

• Children still working within bug club units 1 to 27 continue to take home Bug Club phonics books (fully decodable) and/or other levelled books (fully decodable). In addition, once children are working securely at bug club unit 27, they may take home from the banded boxes – turquoise and above (units 28-30).

• In addition, all children take home rich books from class library and school library to share at home.  
• Parents are given access to online Bug Club books and resources at home.
• All children have reading diaries for use at school and at home.​

Phonics interventions in Key Stage 2

Unless teacher assessment demonstrates that it is needed, there is no longer a whole class daily phonics session from Year 3 upwards. Most children will now take part in guided reading using our guided reading packs, books about our wider curriculum, inference texts or class readers, as appropriate. Please see the English section of our ‘Teaching and Learning Policy’ for more information about our full reading curriculum.

It may be that some children are still not secure with phonics, and interventions are needed. Our preferred model for phonics interventions from Year 3 upwards is teacher led instruction with follow up work by a teaching assistant or other school adult as appropriate. Children taking part in phonics interventions will also be referred to outside agencies for further support and assessment.

Any children working with Bug Club units 1 to 11 (phase 2 and phase 3) will need targeted phonics interventions and remain on 1:1 reading using books appropriate to their Bug Club level, from the appropriate boxes.  These should now be supplemented using graded books from the intervention library, including Rapid Readers (low access/high interest). 

Any children still not secure up to unit 27 (phase 5) continue to use Bug Club phonics packs AND Bug Club guided reading sets. These can then be supplemented using colour banded reading sets from turquoise and above. 

Children taking part in phonics interventions should continue to have access to the Bug Club e-books at home and school and continue to use reading diaries at school and at home. Children should also continue to use sound mats and appropriate displays.

How do we assess the impact of our phonics teaching?

Through our teaching of phonics, we use formative assessment continuously. As the children progress through each Bug Club unit, they are assessed during 1:1 reading sessions with the teacher using our school’s record keeping system.  At the end of each phase, a summative assessment is used to evaluate progress and identify gaps. This information is then used formatively, to inform the future teaching of phonics.

When children are still taking part in whole class phonics, the class move on together. If children are falling behind, they take part in a phonics intervention. These children are given additional time with a school adult, further phonics activities and books which match their phonic stage. Phonics interventions are tracked using Edukey software.

We also have a whole school phonics tracker which is updated four times per year. This provides valuable assessment information that is used formatively within the year, and useful handover information at the end of the year. Before a teacher receives their new class, they can see how many children are still working through the phonic stages and plan accordingly.

The following information from the English section of our Teaching and learning Policy outlines how, at all stages, reading attainment is assessed and gaps are addressed quickly and effectively for all pupils in the following ways:

• All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are regularly tracked with their phonics, using agreed phonic tracking check sheets. At the end of Year 1, all eligible children are entered for the Year 1 Phonics Check. Children not reaching the required standard in this are given targetted support throughout Year 2 and are rechecked at the end of that year. 

• Children still not meeting expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check by the end of Year 2 are discussed with the INCO and signposted for further support.

• Teachers continuously assess children in their reading. To support with this, we carry out termly reading assessments (Y2-6), we keep group guided reading (section 9.2.2) and inference training record sheets. In Reception and Year 1 (and for children in other year groups who have gaps in their reading skills) we keep individual reading records.

• Younger pupils are paired up with pupils in another year group (YR with Y3, Y1 with Y4 and Y2 with Y5) for a term as part of a Reading Buddies group. These are targetted children who benefit from the additional reading practice.

• We access LSS (Literacy Support Service). This is a bought-in dyslexia specialist service for children who continue to need additional help. The school receives weekly support and the sessions are run in school by a TA and overseen by the INCo. 
• We have a Reading Specialist Teacher who works alongside the INCo, teaching and overseeing reading interventions and tracking children throughout their time at Carlton Hill to ensure the right provision is offered to each child.
• All teachers across the school and support staff have had in-depth phonics training and there is an annual update for support staff.
• Pupils with gaps in their phonics knowledge in KS2, who do not receive LSS support, but who still have not passed the phonics check entering KS2 receive on-going support. They are assessed and then grouped according to need and receive targetted phonics lessons at least twice a week. The class teacher leads one of these phonics lessons.

How does Reading Recovery complement the decodable phonics approach?

Children who start Reading Recovery have already been in school for one or two years and not learned to read. These children have Reading Recovery with our Reading Specialist teacher. When children take part in Reading Recovery, they start from their current phonic stage and the Reading Specialist teacher creates a tailor made programme, building on their strengths. This has phonics (the visual information) at its core, but the children are encouraged to use structural and meaning information alongside.

Reading Recovery books are carefully ordered so each new level offers a slight new challenge. This will include common exception words and sight vocabulary which are built up gradually as the child’s reading skills develop. The children read up to four books in a lesson which builds up their fluency and confidence.

Our ultimate aim is to equip children with the skills and knowledge they need to quickly return to class teaching only.

What are we doing well? What are our next steps?

We are currently working hard to have a consistent approach to teaching synthetic phonics across our school. We have opted to use the ‘Bug Club’ programme to support our teaching. Our whole team – teachers and supporting adults – have had phonics training and our Reading Specialist teacher has ensured that we have the necessary resources to deliver our phonics sequence. Wall friezes and sound mats throughout the school are the same, allowing for consistency for the children.

Our Early Years and Key Stage 1 teachers are currently working in a triad to develop this consistent approach to our daily phonics sessions. When we have 'fine tuned' the way we deliver sessions, this will also form the blue print of any teacher-led phonics interventions in Key Stage 2. We will be continuously monitoring Bug Club as we embed it and will buy more individual and Guided Reading books as needed.

Through our reading meetings with Reception and Year 1 parents, and our updated reading guide for parents and carers (available to download near the top of this page), we are working hard to share our approach to teaching reading and engage parents at home. In the near future we will gather pupil and parent voice to find out how successfully we are sharing our approach.