Bare Trees Primary School Phonics and Reading

Phonics 

As a school we teach the ‘Read, Write, Inc.’ programme. It is an approach to English which is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers. This starts in Nursery and continues until pupils are competent in their phonological knowledge. Regular screening is ongoing and teaching and grouping matches individual needs. Phonic catch-up takes place for the pupils not making the expected progress. 

Pupils in Year 1 complete the statutory Phonics Screening Check in the Summer term. If the pupils do not achieve the expected standard, they will continue to work through the phonics programme and then retake the check in the Summer of Year 2. This is reported to the LEA and parents annually via the school report. 

Reading

At Bare Trees Primary School, pupils in the EYFS and Key Stage One read phonetically decodable books from the Read Write Inc Book Bag Books scheme. The pupil’s book is matched to their reading and phonetic ability based on regular school assessment. Pupils read their individual reading book to the teacher throughout the week. They read the keywords, discuss the pictures and develop their reading skills. Pupils take their school reading book home to share with parents at least once a week to further develop their reading skills. Parents are encouraged to share the text at home and to make comments in the pupil’s reading record and are also invited to take part in reading mornings. 

Once pupils have acquired age appropriate decoding skills, they then transfer to reading book banded texts using a range of schemes. This continues throughout their time at Bare Trees. Regular assessments ensure that the texts are matched accurately to the pupils’ reading ability.

All pupils in Key Stage Two take part in 'Ready For Reading' sessions three times a week. The aim of the 'Ready For Reading' sessions is to explicitly teach, develop and apply a range of specific reading skills. Teachers plan the sessions using a range of text types to broaden the pupils’ reading experiences. A structured planning format ensures a consistent approach to the teaching of Reading and the development of reading skills for all pupils.

All year groups have at least one inspiring reading area which houses a wide range of texts. The purpose of the reading area is to develop a love of reading. 

Intervention

Read Write Inc One to One Phonics - For pupils in Reception, Year One and Year Two who need an immediate intervention to address gaps in phonic knowledge.

Project X Code - This programme is aimed at struggling readers in Year Three and Year Four to develop their synthetic phonics and comprehension skills.