Find out about how we teach phonics, reading and writing
Phoneme pronunciation resource
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Supporting your child to read at home
Supporting your child to write at home
Quality Texts for each year group
Phonics
Phonics is one method of teaching children how to read and write. Phonics is all about sounds. There are 44 sounds in the English language, which we put together to form words. Some are represented by one letter, like ‘t’, and some by two or more, like ‘ck’ in duck and ‘air’ in chair. Children are taught the sounds first, then how to match them to letters, and finally how to use the letter sounds for reading and spelling. Synthetic phonics refers to ‘synthesising’, or blending, the sounds to read words. It is based on the idea that children should sound out unknown words and not rely on their context.
At Springfield we use Letters & Sounds and Jolly Phonics resources to teach our children. EYFS, Y1 and Y2 children have phonics sessions daily.
Writing
At Springfield we believe that everyone is a ‘real writer’. Writing is taught using a mixed media approach (text, image and writing) to inspire and motivate children to write. We strive to give our children a real purpose to their writing and writing is promoted in all subjects and throughout the school. Grammar skills are taught explicitly and children are given opportunities to apply these by exploring a range of text forms.
In EYFS the writing focus is on pencil grip, letter formation and developing a love for writing in the real world. From the first day at Springfield we strive to help every child feel like a ‘real writer’, so you will find our EYFS children writing at every given opportunity – in the role play area, in our doodle hut, in the outside area or around the classroom – as they develop their sentence writing. We teach cursive handwriting from EYFS in which letters have lead in and lead out lines, which helps the transition to joining in later years.
In KS1 children begin to learn a wider range of grammar and punctuation and work on increasing their writing stamina to write longer pieces and develop their writing style. We link our writing to our reading curriculum by engaging the children in high quality, inspiring texts and providing exciting experiences for them to write about.
In KS2 children focus on developing their independent writing skills further and incorporating a wide range of punctuation and grammar. Children also begin to learn how to plan their writing and consider both the audience and purpose of their writing as they refine their writing style.
Reading
In EYFS and KS1 we use Bug Club, a finely-levelled reading scheme, which ensures that all children are reading books at exactly the right level for them. This phonically based reading scheme ensures our early readers are rehearsing and practising the sounds they have learned and at the same time giving the children depth and variety in their reading experiences. This fine progression gives children plenty of opportunity to develop their reading skills and master each fine step while moving through the reading programme.
In Year 2 we begin to introduce key reading comprehension skills to prepare the children for a greater focus on comprehension skills in KS2.
We teach whole class reading in Years 2-6, where the teacher will teach a particular reading skill in depth, develop the children’s vocabulary and hear the children read.
In September 2019 we began running the system of Accelerated Reader in KS2 which encompasses the three main reading components; decoding, fluency and comprehension. This contributes to our aim of ensuring our children become balanced readers who can access a wide range of text types and genres and develop a love of literature.
Reading At Springfield Update for Parents 2020
100 picture books to read before you are 5 years old
Books for 5&6 year olds Books for 6&7 year olds
Books for 7&8 year olds Books for 8&9 year olds
Books for 9&10 year olds Books for 10&11 year olds
