Reading at St Peter’s Bratton C of E Primary Academy
At St. Peter’s Bratton we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading and confidence as lifelong readers. We recognise that reading well is crucial to a high-quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.
Reading at St Peter's Bratton Primary Academy
Phonics at St Peter’s Bratton C of E Primary Academy
To help the school meet the expectations of the Department for Education in relation to phonics teaching we follow Essential Letters and Sounds, this is a systematic phonics programme based on Letters and Sounds (2007). This phonics programme supports your children in making quick progress to become fluent and confident readers.
Phonics teaching is a high priority throughout Reception and Key Stage 1. The children take part in daily Phonics sessions for around thirty minutes. We use a variety of resources to make phonic sessions fun and interactive for the children, aiming to have taught the children all 44 phonemes within the English Language by the time they leave Year 1. Every child has an individual Phonic Record Book which they record in daily and allows teachers to monitor individual children’s progress. At the end of Year 1 the children take the standardised Phonics Screening Test to consolidate their learning.
From Year 2 onwards, children move towards the National Curriculum program when they are on phase 6. However, if your child has not reached this phase they will be given further support as part of an additional intervention group, to continue their individual reading journey.
Phonics at home
Alongside the children’s daily Phonics sessions and reading activities with an adult in school, reading with your child at home will support your children’s progress even further.
Children are heard read by an adult in school at least once a week. We will change the children’s books during this 1:1 reading session. This will allow your child to re-read each text several times, building their confidence and fluency. This is especially important as they begin to learn that the sounds within our language can be spelled in different ways.
To best support us in teaching your child to read, we ask that you read the decodable text provided by the school at least four times across the week. Spending 10 minutes a day reading with your child will hugely support them on their journey to becoming an independent reader. For children, re-reading words and sentences that they can decode (sound out) until they are fluent (read with ease and precision) is a key part of learning to read. By reading texts several times, children have the greatest opportunity to achieve this fluency.
The texts sent home are carefully matched to the teaching taking place in school. Your child will be practising what they have been taught in school with you at home. We will only ask children to read books independently when they can decode these by themselves.
Reading for Pleasure
Any books that are not yet decodable for the children are also invaluable to share with your children. These books will help to instil a love of reading from the very beginning of their reading journey. Supporting children’s language development and wider academic attainment - but also provides them with the skills to learn about the wider world and an endless array of fictional characters when reading for pleasure!
Phonics Policy
Our Early Reading and Phonics policy celebrates the abilities of our children to apply phonetic strategies and become successful readers. Each classroom has a reading area containing a variety of reading scheme books including Rising Stars, Oxford Reading Tree and Big Cat Phonics. These are colour coded alongside a broader range of books which your child will be selecting from. Every child has their reading skills assessed regularly which will be shared with you via the 'Home School Diary'.
Useful Links
ELS Supporting Documents
Phoneme Mats
Phoneme Letter Formation Rhymes
Grapheme Information Sheet - Phase 2.pdf
Grapheme Information Sheet - Phase 3.pdf
Grapheme Information Sheet - Phase 5.pdf
Harder to Read and Spell Words
Essential Letters and Sounds Harder to Read Words YR/Primary1
Essential Letters and Sounds Harder to Read Words Y1/Primary2
Oxford Owl Video Links
Phonics: How to blend sounds to read words | Oxford Owl
If you would like more information or detail on Early Reading and Phonics at St Peter's, then please call school on 01952 387980 or use the school email address: [email protected] and mark for the attention of the Early Reading and Phonics Lead – Miss Popsys.
Reading Spines
The reading spines are a starting point for teachers when selecting texts and authors for reading/writing units, choosing a class reader, stocking their class library or directing children towards reading books . It is intended to:
- Ensure quality texts are chosen and pitched appropriately;
- Encourage a range of classic and contemporary fiction and poetry;
- Include a variety of formats, i.e. verse novels, graphic novels.
- Encourage diversity in chosen texts
Some authors and poets are repeated across the year groups to provide opportunities for children to discuss and analyse writing style and make comparisons between texts. For example, children will be introduced to the poet, Grace Nichols and the author, Oliver Jeffers in KS1 before reading more of their work in KS2.
Texts that link to curriculum areas have also been indicated.
Reciprocal Reading at KS2
At KS2, children are introduced to Reciprocal Reading. This is a structured method of guided reading where children are gradually taught to take on group roles to explore and find meaning in texts. Reciprocal Reading emphasises teamwork and supports independent comprehension skills.
Writing at St Peter's Bratton Primary Academy
Writing is a crucial part of our curriculum at St Peter’s Bratton. Throughout their time in school, we want our children to develop a love of writing and to be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through the written word. Our aim is to encourage children to be independent writers who can write confidently in different forms for a range of audiences and purposes.
Writing at St Peter's Bratton Primary Academy
Handwriting
In school, we follow the Teach Handwriting scheme which takes a holistic view of teaching handwriting, developing both a child’s Key Strengths (Gross & Fine Motor Skills) and Key Abilities (Knowledge) from Year 1 through to the end of Key Stage 2. It’s systematic, differentiated and progressive approach supports children of all ability levels.
Please follow the link below for more information, animations showing letter formation, games and activities which will be useful to help children practise at home. Please choose ‘cursive’ style when given that option on the animations.
Spelling at St Peter's Bratton Primary Academy
Spelling and word knowledge are key components in the process of learning to read and write. Learning to spell well is extremely useful if we want our children to become confident writers. If they are constantly stopping to think about how words are spelt while they write, it can interrupt the flow of their thoughts, taking them away from what we want them to be thinking about: their choice of words and how they construct those words into sentences that communicate exactly what they want to say.
Please see the files and links below for more information about ‘No Nonsense Spelling’. Also see statutory word lists for Years 2-6, and information about the strategies we are use to help children learn spellings.
Common Exception Words for Years 1/2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N0s_eTRheM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8U5BqhwYWE
Spelling at St Peter's Bratton Primary Academy
Statutory Word List for Years 3/4
Statutory Word List for Years 5/6
Strategies for learning NO Nonsense Spellings