In preschool and nursery we teach early phonics skills, through a combination of whole class teaching, small groups and individual activities. We teach 7 stages.

The stages support the development matters curriculum and principles of letters and sounds which prepare children for our synthetic phonics programme Read Write Inc (RWI), which we begin the summer term of nursery.

In preschool stages 1,2,3,4 and 6 are taught.

In nursery all stages are taught across the Autumn and Spring terms. In the summer term RWI Nursery is taught, where sounds are introduced alongside the RWI materials, children learn how to say the sounds clearly and their corresponding phonemes, but do not yet write.

The stages are non -hierarchical and therefore are taught in any order, however developmentally we feel that stages 5 and 7 are more suited to nursery age children.

Stage 1 – Environmental sounds.

Children explore the sounds in the world around them, learning to listen, identify and tune into a range of everyday, animals and vehicle sounds. They learn to compare types of everyday noises. There are lots of links to listening and attention

Preschool

Nursery

Turn towards familiar sounds. Listen with attention to sounds around them.  Sometimes identify the source of the sound and where it came from (eg. its direction). Recognise and name familiar sounds. Make sounds to represent familiar animals, objects, and vehicles. To engage in sound and environment walks. To differentiate between everyday sounds by playing sound games, such as sound bingo.

Listen with increased attention to sounds. To recognise a large range of everyday sounds, animals and vehicles. Identify the source of the sound and where it came from (eg. its direction). To engage in careful listening during sound walks, identify a range of loud and quiet sounds. Respond to what they have heard, expressing their thoughts and feelings. For example “That’s too loud, its scary”. “It’s like Christmas!”

Stage 2 – Instrumental sounds

Children explore the sounds that objects and instruments by exploring a range of instruments and loose parts. Children learn to tune into a range of sounds, recognise and compare as well as explore how they can change sounds, loud, quiet, bumpy, smooth, etc.

Preschool

Nursery

Explore toys and objects that make sounds for example loose parts, different materials – wood, metal, plastic. Show attention to sounds and music. Listen to and explore the sounds of a range of different instruments. Investigate how instruments can make sounds and how you can play them in different ways. To use instruments and noisy objects to compare types of sounds for example loud/ quiet, slow/ fast, jumpy/ smooth.

Listen to and explore the sounds of a range of instruments. Play instruments with increasing control to express their feelings and ideas. To match instruments to the sounds they make and name some by sound. Explore musical words such as tempo, timbre, beat as they play. To describe instrument sounds/ choose appropriate words to describe the sound. Eg. Loud, quiet, quick, slow, jumpy, long.

Stage 3 – Body percussion

Children listen and respond to sounds physically, they learn to explore the sounds they can make with their bodies through  movement and how to create and keep a beat.

Preschool

Nursery

Respond emotionally and physically when music changes. To talk about how different music makes us feel, happy, sad, tired, etc. Clap and stamp to music Explore the sounds our bodies can make. For example, what sounds can we make with our hands? Clap, rub. To use body percussion to make rhythmic and repetitive sounds, for example tapping knees to the beat of a song.

Explore the sounds their bodies can make, introduce children to the musical word body percussion. Explore how we can change sounds and describe, for example making the sound longer/ shorter by clapping in different ways. Use body percussion to make rhythmic and repetitive sounds, for example tapping along to a beat. Increasingly be able to use and remember sequences of patterns and movements which are related to music and rhythm.

Stage 4 – Rhythm, onset and rhyme

Children learn a range of songs and rhymes, joining in and learning by heart. Children also explore the meaning of the word rhyme, playing with rhyming words and continuing a rhyming pattern.

Preschool	Nursery
Enjoy songs and rhymes, tuning in and paying attention To join in with sounds, words and actions of familiar rhymes and songs. Sing songs and say rhymes independently, for example singing whilst playing. To have favourite rhymes. To learn a small set of rhymes very well, for example filling in missing words. To listen to and enjoy rhyming stories.	To build a large repertoire of songs and rhymes, joining in with words and actions. Play with songs, singing while playing and changing words, humming a tune. Develop an awareness of rhyme, recognising when words sound similar or follow a pattern, for example in a story. Play rhyming games to match rhyming pairs for example. Spot and suggest words that rhyme.

Stage 5 – Alliteration

Children explore initial sounds and tune into sound patters such as a..a.. apple, astronaut, alligator.

Preschool	Nursery
Notice some print, such as the first letter of their name, a bus or door number, or a familiar logo.	Play sound games, such as I spy to explore initial sounds. Hear the initial sounds in words. Recognise words with the same initial sound, for example by developing lists – dog, dinosaur, duck. Use print and letter knowledge in writing. For example: writing ‘m’ for mummy.

Stage 6 – Voice sounds and syllables

Children explore the sounds they can make with their voices, copying sounds carefully and using practically in their play. Children also explore syllables by tapping and clapping out beats, listening carefully to the composition of words.

Preschool	Nursery
Explore their voices and enjoy making sounds. Make sounds to enliven play for example ‘brrrm’ for a car. To copy clapping out syllables in words, for example our names. Explore a range of speech sounds by moving our mouths in different ways – for example using the mouth book.	Recognise words can be broken down into syllables. Count or clap syllables in a word. Explore a range of speech sounds. To say speech sounds carefully.

Stage 7 – Oral segmenting and blending

Children explore how words can be broken down ‘segmented’ into smaller sounds and ‘blended’ back together. Children learn that this is a reversable process exploring how to listen to blend as well as segment words or FRED talk. Children will be introduced to Fred the frog, who can only speak in segmented words!

Preschool	Nursery
NA	Engage in listening games that involve blending sounds. Eg.“Find the p-e-n” Listen to blend sounds together into words eg. c-oa-t. Segment words into their sounds using FRED talk.

Children are taught phonics sessions daily as part of group times.

Each week children have a ‘focus’ phonic activity supported by an adult.  

Our provision is carefully planned to support the development of early phonics (see environment later in the policy).

Reception implementation of phonics

In reception, once baseline assessments are completed (autumn 1) children begin our whole school synthetic phonics programme, Read Write Inc. Each session follows – recap, teach, practise, read and apply, write format. Word time sessions are taught following the read write inc programme which recap and revise sounds, working on word building and application to writing.

Children are taught in whole classes and have a phonics session (20 minutes) each day.

As in nursery and preschool, the provision is planned to support phonics development.

After all children have completed their first read write inc assessment, reception classes will be split to enable the class teachers to target need and support pace.

By the end of the reception year all children will have completed their set 1 and set 2 sounds, plus have been taught red words - said , the,  I, me, you, no, are, your, he, be, go, of.

 

Implementation of guided/ group reading

In preschool and nursery

Children have a small group reading session once every two weeks. The book is selected by the class teacher to support the topic or an ‘essential’ read. Practitioners share a story bag with props or key words, which is used to build vocabulary as well as support the story retelling.   

Book sharing is timetable daily and take place before group time at the end of each session, as an opportunity for teachers to support early reading skills and as a calm end to the morning or afternoon.

Reception

Children have a two guided reading sessions per week, in their colour groups. The children read the same book for both sessions. Read write inc books are taught based on their stage of read write inc and correlate to sounds taught. They begin with the CVC word books in autumn and move onto red ditty books, followed by green books as more sounds are covered and children become more confident in their ability to blend and segment.

 

Home readers

Preschool

Parents have access to the preschool lending library which is located under the covered area at the preschool entrance. Parents are encouraged to sign books in and out.

Nursery

Children are invited to choose a book to take home from the nursery lending library and are asked to return it each week so it can be changed.

Reception

Children are provided with a reading record and 2 reading books each week. One reading book is from our reception lending library and the other is a read write in book or words that correspond to where they are in their guided reading session, following the read write inc. order of teaching. Books are changed every Wednesday.

All children in the EYFS will be given a story bag each half term as part of their week as 'focus child', these bags contain a story or book with props and successed activities to explore at home. The books and activities are carefully selected and planned to support and encourage a love of reading and enagement with books! Story bags are sent out on Wednesday and returned the following Monday. 

 

Whole class readers

In preschool teachers will spend time each day reading with the children during book time, they will read with individuals and small groups, by the end of the year children will enjoy a whole class story time at the end of the day.

In nursery and reception children will have story time at the end of each day/ session. This could be a book chosen by a child from the reading area, or one chosen by the class teacher to support topic.

 

Assessment:

Preschool and nursery:

Class teachers and teaching assistants are to record observations and include the word ‘phonics’ alongside the stage the observation links to.

For example: Luka went to the music area and picked up a drum, he tapped on the top several times, creating a rhythmic pattern, he began to sing humpty dumpty and tap at the same time.  23.11.23   I   Phonics – 2/ 4

In children’s learning journeys the document outlining age related expectations for the different stages of phonics should be stuck at the back of books and phonic observations should be stuck on the page opposite this.

The EYFS phonics and reading lead has created and will keep up to date a google document. Class teachers must record whether each child has nb (no begun), w (working) or s (secure) in each stage of early phonics. In preschool stages 1,2,3,4 and 6 must be assessed. In nursery all stages must be assessed.

Teachers must update these records at the end of each term, autumn 2, spring 2 and summer 2.

Reception:

In autumn 2, when children have learnt all set 1 sounds, children are assessed and given a number and band score. Based on these scores, the phonics/ reading eyfs lead will split children into 2 groups. 

Phonic screening tests take place in the Autumn 2, Spring 2 and summer 1. Results are uploaded to Target Tracker, contextual page.

In addition to this ‘reading’ skills are assessed half termly on target tracker, where each child will be assessed against development matters statements as a guide to wether they are ‘below’ ‘expected’ or ‘above’ age related expectations. Teacher click on statements to colour red for working and blue for complete.

 

Intervention:

Preschool and nursery

Due to the age of the children and relationship between communication, language and literacy children who are falling behind in phonics usually require support with their listening and attention. The welcomm programme is used at Broomwood to pinpoint speaking and listening needs and must be prioritised. When teachers identify children need support in communication, phonic style activities are provided alongside welcomm to learn fundamental skills that underpin early phonics. Children will receive 1 to 2 welcomm interventions per week.

Reception

Children who are identified as needing additional phonic and reading support receive intervention once a week to practise and apply phonics skills, such as revisiting tricky sounds or blending and segmenting practise.

They are also provided with additional resources at home when necessary, such as activities on seesaw or print out copies of sounds to practise.  

Quality first teaching will support the needs of the class and individuals to support development and revisit the areas which children need support. For example if many children are struggling to recall rhymes make this a priority at group times, focusing on 1 and 2, which can be built up.

Environment

The environment is one of our most valuable tools in teaching. In Broomwood Early Years the environment provides a rich and enabling space for children to pursue interests, practise and develop skills in continuous provision to support learning across the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. Resources are provided both in continuous provision to support the development and application of early sound discrimination and phonic skills. Enhancements are planned by the class teacher, in areas listed below to encourage the development of a particular skill either through additional resourcing and/ or adult support.

Across our early years classrooms at Broomwood there is consistency and familairty to the environment, but areas are adapted year on year to support children progression as they move through the EYFS.

Essential books for preschool: The very hungry caterpillar Eric Carle Brown bear brown bear Eric Carle Dear zoo – Rod Cambell The three little pigs Dig dig digging – Margaret Mayo Peace at last – Jill Murphy Where’s spot? -Eric Hill Octopus socktopus – Nick Sharrat That’s not my… The wheels on the bus

Essential books for nursery The very busy spider - Eric Carle Whatever next - Jill Murphy Oi frog How to catch a star – Oliver Jeffers What the ladybird heard – Julia Donaldson The Gruffalo -Julia Donaldson Goldilocks and the three bears Polar bear polar bear what do you hear – Eric Carle Shark in the park – Nick Sharrat The jolly postman – Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Essential books for reception The day the crayons quit – Drew Daywalt The very hungry caterpillar Dogger Shirley Hughes The Grufflo and the Gruffalo’s child - Julia Donaldson Room on the broom Julia Donaldson The tiger who came to tea Judith Kerr Where the wild things are Maurice Sendack 5 minutes peace Jill Murphy All the way back home- Oliver Jeffers Aliens love underpants – Claire Freedman Owl babies – Martin Waddell Lost and found – Oliver Jeffers Six dinners Sid – Igna Moore

 

Phonics lessons are taught following the RWI lesson plans, using the RWI sound cards, pictures and phrases. As a school, we have created actions to go with each sound and picture card as this makes the teaching and learning of each sound multi-sensory. This is an approach we feel is more suited to our children. The actions for each sound card are taught consistently across the school. 

When sounds are taught, we ensure that:

• sounds are taught in a specific order
• sounds taught are ‘pure’ ie ‘b’ is taught and not ‘buh’.
• blends are declustered. eg bl is two specific sounds.
• children are taught that the number of graphemes in a word always corresponds to the number of phonemes.

Phonic sessions

Year 1

• RWI phonics is taught for 20 minutes each day using the RWI lesson plans.
• These lessons are taught in mixed ability groups.
• During the Summer term, until the Phonics Screening Check, children will be streamed and taught in ability groups. This allows teachers to address any gaps in learning prior to the Phonics Screening Check.
• Children who do not pass this check will receive intervention immediately.
• Additional resources, including Phonics Play, maybe used for review, recap and consolidation.

Year 2

• Children learn the spelling patterns for their year group but recap on the RWI sounds at the beginning of each session.
• Spelling patterns are taught in mixed ability groups.
• All children will participate within the lesson while new spelling patterns are being taught. 
• After this, children with significant gaps in their phonic knowledge will continue to have phonic teaching during this time.
• All children that did not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, and are working below the expected standard in phonics,  will receive weekly intervention. 

Guided reading sessions

Using the RWI approach, children are assessed using the RWI assessment and then are grouped according to their phonic ability. Teachers then teach towards the highest ability within their group. Groups are reviewed termly, using the RWI assessment, but are fluid. This allows some movement of children between the groups, depending on the children’s needs and ability.

We feel this approach works because staff can deliver first quality teaching to the group as a whole, 4 days a week, rather than focusing on one group each day.

The groups will work through the RWI books, up to grey level, at their phonetic level. After this point, or when the children are working beyond the expected level, children will work through elements of the RWI comprehension scheme.

Groups will complete a range of activities in a timetable to suit the class/level of the children. An example timetable could be:

Day	Children working on story books 1-4	Children working on story books 5-7
1	Book Bag Book given out Phonics and vocabulary reading session	Book Bag Book given out Phonics and vocabulary reading session
2	Book prep, introduction and Vocabulary check	Book prep, introduction and Vocabulary check
3	First read	First read
4	Second read and questions to talk about	Second read and questions to talk about
5	Third read with expression Speed words	Third read with expression Speed words
6	Follow up task	Questions to read and answer
7		Follow up task/additional activity to develop a range of assessment focuses.

Book Bag Book – The home reading book is handed out on day 1 of the timetable. Both the Book Bag Book and class reading book have the same sound focus.

Phonics activity- Recap of the RWI sounds taught so far. There is then an activity to reinforce the sounds that are covered in the story. The children work in partners to quickly read the sounds at the front of the book.

Vocab activity - In this activity the children practice their Fred talk reading words that they will meet in the book.

                   ch i p      n i ght   m oo n

The teacher also uses my turn your turn to develop instant recognition of Red words.

                   does               all                   said

Book preparation and prediction- The teacher introduces the story in a way that engages the children. Children will be given the opportunity to predict the story.

Vocabulary check- The teacher ensures and teaches the understanding of any vocabulary that the children maybe unfamiliar with.     

First read - In this activity the children take turns to read the story.  The teaching partner points to the words, whilst the reading partner reads the text – the partners then swap at the bottom of each page.

Second read - The children re-read the story. The teacher then reads the story to the children to model reading with fluency.

Questions to talk about – Children will use the text to verbally answer the questions with their partner. The children will find and prove the answers to each question.

Third read – This begins with a greater depth discussion between the children and teacher. Focus is on vocabulary meaning, synonyms and punctuation within a chosen number of pages rather than the whole book. The children then re-read the text with expression and fluency following the discussion.

Questions to read and answer – Children will use the text to answer the questions. Some children will write the answer down.

Speed sounds – Children will read the speed sounds in and out of order.

Activity based on the book – A follow up activity chosen by the class teacher based on the book. This activity is to develop inference and comprehension skills.

 

The RWI comprehension group will work through the range of blueprint lessons from the RWI handbook. An example timetable could be:

In Spring 2, children in this comprehension group will receive a home reading book based on the Accelerated Reading approach used in KS2. Until this point, the children will work through the grey non-fiction RWI books.

KS2 Phonics

• Reading intervention is taught using RWI, on a 1:1 basis where possible, to Year 3 and 4 children who are below the expected standard in reading for their year group.
• Additional reading intervention is taught through RWI Fresh Start for identified Year 5 and 6 children working below the expected standard for their year group, These children are identified by the SENCO.

Home Reading

In KS1, the children have a Book Bag Book to take home which directly matches the RWI book they are reading in guided reading. They are part of the same scheme and their purpose is to reinforce the learning done in school and so is matched to their phonic ability. To nurture a love for reading, children will also receive a home shared reading book that will be based on their general reading ability. This will be changed weekly when read. As children move beyond RWI phonics to RWI comprehension they transition to Accelerated Reader - the approach used in KS2.

Whole Class Readers

A carefully selected range of bocks have been identified for enjoyment in KS1. They are based on broadening the children experiences of different authors and genres as well as developing a love of reading. Some texts will be selected by children but there is a core list to ensure progression.

Assessments

RWI assessment

All KS1 children will complete a RWI assessment in Autumn 2, Spring 2 and Summer 2. These scores are entered onto the custom section in Target Tracker by the class teacher. These scores (raw score and letter achieved) are then analysed by the subject lead.

The scores are then used to group children into guided reading groups. Teachers professional judgement is also used should a child need to move between groups. Children who are not achieving the expected standard will be placed into an intervention group.

Phonics Screen Check Assessments

 

Year 1 children, and the Year 2 children who did not pass the Phonics Screening Check, complete a practice phonics test in Autumn 1, Spring 1 and Summer 1. This is tracked by the subject lead, using the custom section of Target Tracker. Where possible, children who are not achieving the expected progress will be placed into an intervention group.

 

PIRA tests are also used to track children’s overall reading ability and these are reported onto Target Tracker. 

Intervention

Both RWI assessments and Phonic Screening practice tests are used to identify children not meeting the expected standard. Where possible, all children below the expected standard will receive weekly intervention, as per the graduated reading approach.

Classroom environment

The sets of RWI sounds, images and sound charts are used throughout the school and should be available in classrooms. They can be in lightbulb books or on hanging displays. This is checked during environment walks.

 

At Broomwood Primary School our reading curriculum is designed to meet the needs of our pupils ensuring our curriculum intentions are met. We do this through;

Phonics

In Year 3, children who fell behind in the Year 2 phonics screening retake have targeted interventions to support their phonics knowledge.

Guided Reading

In KS2 we follow an approach whereby all children in the class are working on the same text but are able to access it in different ways. The books have been selected to give the children a broad reading experience across their time at Broomwood Primary with each one linking to the topics being covered where possible. Guided reading is focused on the whole class using VIPERS questions (vocabulary, inference, prediction, explain, retrieval, summary) whereby all students take part in active discussions and reading about a shared text. This happens 4 days a week, with the last session focussing on a different non-fiction text. KAGAN plays a big part in our guided reading approach where children work together to create their own ideas, predictions, and thoughts about a text and share their knowledge together. This way we can ensure all children have an active part in their learning of reading and are always supported by the class teacher and/or teaching assistant.

Home Reading

This is a vital part of our curriculum and children are encouraged to read at home at least four times a week. Children are assessed within the school and take books home matched to their reading ability using Accelerated Reader. Children select books which are matched to their secure reading ability rather than the level they are being taught at or their age or year group. Children are assessed termly as they make progress. A quiz is carried out by the child after every book read which checks their understanding.

Whole class novels

These texts have been identified for each year group to ensure that during their time in school the children are able to enjoy a wide range of genres, read to them by an adult. The curriculum has been carefully designed to ensure coverage of classical texts and texts to promote cultural and physical diversity. Enjoying a class story is so important to us that it is timetabled in for every class in the school.

Assessment

This is a vital tool for establishing the progress the children are making and for identifying the next steps in learning. In Key Stage Two, we formally assess the children each term using the PIRA tests. These give us a standardised score which we can report to parents. However, this is only one part of the picture. We also use our professional judgement when working with the children to assess where they are up to and assign a Teacher Assessment grade each half term - this is done on an assessment system called Target Tracker. Accelerated Reader also provides detailed assessment information to guide the teacher judgement.

Intervention

Using our graduated approach, we ensure that every child scoring one or more steps below expected on Target Tracker accesses phonics or reading intervention. Teachers are aware of who these children are and what interventions the children have. Please see the LKS2 and UKS2 graduated approach documents for detailed information on this.

Classroom Environment

Each classroom has a rich and engaging reading area designed to encourage and support reading for pleasure. We have an excellent variety of texts, both fiction and non-fiction with recommendations from their peers.

Within reading we recognise that a small percentage of children will need more than the first quality teach in order to meet the expected standard. We have designed a graduated approach for each phase of learning to ensure that children are able to keep up and no child is missed. This also identifies how we will support our most needy children.

• Graduated Reading Approach eyfs.docx
• Graduated Reading Approach ks1.docx
• Graduated Reading Approach lks2.docx
• Graduated Reading Approach uks2.docx