Our Reading Lead is Natalie McLellan

'Properly, we should read for power. Reading should be intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand.'

Ezra Pound

What is Phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language.

Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they’re combined will help children decode words as they read.

Understanding phonics will also help children know which letters to use when they are writing words.

Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters. For example, the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck or ch.

Teaching children to blend the sounds of letters together helps them decode unfamiliar or unknown words by sounding them out. For example, when a child is taught the sounds for the letters t, p, a and s, they can start to build up the words: “tap”, “taps”, “pat”, “pats” and “sat”.

We teach Phonics through a systematic synthetic programme called 'Essential Letters and Sounds.'

Our Curriculum is based around books. Below are the books that we follow throughout the year and from each year group.

YEAR 1 

YEAR 2 

YEAR 3 

YEAR 4 

YEAR 5 

YEAR 6