Reading

Phonics

At Hollickwood, we use Essential Letters and Sounds which is a Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) programme, validated by the Department for Education. Essential Letters and Sounds is an SSP where only the essential elements are included and the focus is on high quality direct teaching which enables all pupils to keep up. Phonics teaching is clearly sequenced so that the simplest sounds are taught first before progressing all the way through to the most complex combinations of letters. Each lesson follows a consistent structure and is organised in a way so that no time is wasted. All lessons include opportunities for children to practise encoding as well as decoding.

Formal phonics is taught as soon as the children begin Reception full time (Autumn Week 3). Children also access Phase 1 phonics in Nursery so that they have the pre-requisite skills to readily access Phase 2 in Reception.

Phonics is taught every day without fail. Reception phonics lessons are from 9-9.20 (extending to 9-9.30 later in the year) and Year 1 and Year 2 phonics lessons are from 10.45-11.15.

Please see the table for the expected phases the children should be at each term.

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Nursery	Phase 1
Reception	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 3-4	Phase 3-4	Phase 4	Phase 5 introduction
Year 1	Phase 5	Phase 5	Phase 5	Phase 5	All phases	All phases

Reading:

Reading ‘The Hollickwood Way’

Ensuring that children learn to read fluently, with comprehension and with enjoyment is of paramount importance in our school. We therefore have an unashamedly ambitious and rigorous approach to the teaching of reading so that all children leave our school with a love of literature and the reading skills necessary to fully access the next stage of their education. Our teaching of reading is rooted in our school’s core values: Compassion, Creativity, Commitment, Confidence, Curiosity and Courage. It has been informed by research-based evidence of best practice.

Key Stage 1 (Years 1-2)

Small group guided reading takes place every day from 9-9.30am following the agreed structure outlined in Appendix 1. Adults across the school are pooled so that at least four out of the five groups in every class are reading within an adult led group during this time. One group may work on an independent activity which further develops their reading skills. Teachers should ensure that they regularly work with every group and are responsible for planning for all groups and supporting LSAs with their teaching of reading.

Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6)

A 30-45 minute whole class reading lesson takes place every day. In Years 4-6, this ordinarily takes place from 11.30-12.15 unless a teacher has morning PPA. In this case, it will take place from 1.15-2pm. In Year 3, reading lessons will take place from 9-9.30 in line with Key Stage 1 to allow for additional staffing. This will allow for pupils in Year 3 who have not yet secured their ability to decode phonetically to access the guided group lessons in Year 1 or 2 as appropriate.

There are three types of reading lesson taught in Key Stage 2. These are:

· Fluency Lessons

· Extended Reading Lessons

· Close Reading Lessons.

Reading

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