Reading and Phonics
How do we teach phonics and reading at Hardwick and Cambourne Primary School?
Here at Hardwick and Cambourne Primary School we teach daily phonics using the Letters and Sounds programme, supported by the use of Jolly Phonics kinaesthetic actions. As children move through the early stages of acquiring phonics, they practise by reading texts which are entirely decodable for them from our Oxford Reading Tree and Pearson Phonics Bug book scheme.
Once children have a secure knowledge of letter/sound correspondences and can blend words confidently, they access our colour coded Book Banded reading scheme which has books from various published schemes such as Oxford Reading Tree, Project X and Collins Big Cat. These schemes are designed to give children experience of a variety of reading genres and allows children to practice their phonetic decoding as well as their common exception words. There are a great range of fiction and non-fiction books within each colour level. Children are regularly assessed to determine that the books they read in school and take home are at the correct level for them.
Once children can read fluently and with a good understanding, they self- select books to take home from a selection of organised books. Teachers supervise and check which books children are selecting each week to ensure children are building upon their reading ability as well as gaining a love of reading for pleasure.
In addition to daily phonics, all year groups from Reception to Year 6 all children will have daily or weekly reading lessons. This may take the form of a guided reading carousel or a whole class shared reading lesson. Activities are finely tuned to the needs of the children and either support or extension put in place to cater for the needs of each individual child.
Class teachers also promote a love of reading by sharing what they are currently reading for pleasure on their classroom doors as well as offering the chance to ‘relax and read’ in book areas in their classrooms.
How to help with phonics at home
The best way to support your child with their phonetic development is to read their school book that changes each week. It is matched to suit their individual needs and runs alongside what they are learning in their phonics lesson. In addition to reading their leveled colour banded book you can also access a range of fun games via this website:
www.phonicsplay.com
Username: Hardwick_cambourne
Password: phonics
Please also look at the following videos to support your child at home