Westbury Leigh Church of England Primary School

Phonics

Phonics is a key part of learning how to decode words.  We follow the sounds write approach which means children have access to a wide range of words and are able to word build and deconstruct words with confidence without the need for rules. 

Our curriculum will: 

•     inspire children to learn about themselves and their place in the global community 
•     aspire to be challenging, relevant and meaningful 
•     achieve the best outcome for every child

Intent: We want every child to be successful, fluent readers and writers by the end of Key Stage One and we believe that this is achievable through a combination of strong, high quality phonics teaching combined with regular, daily opportunities for developing reading skills combined with a whole language approach that promotes a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ culture. The teaching of phonics is a key strategy that is used to help our children to read, write and spell. High quality phonics is an important part of the word decoding skills required by children to develop higher level whole language and comprehension skills. This approach is in alignment with our belief that we first ‘learn to read’ and then ‘read to learn’. 

Implementation: Phonics is taught alongside reading from day 1 of school.  It is delivered as a daily lesson and referenced across the curriculum in KS1 and EY.  In KS2, reference to phonics is made in learning and supporting writing and reading.  Intervention through keep up and catch up is used to give those who need it greater immersion in their learning.  Progress is monitored and reviewed regularly.  We follow the Sounds write scheme and teach early reading linking reading books to this. 

Impact: High quality phonic teaching ensures all children are able to use this skills in their reading and writing, this is reflected in the quality of their decoding and spelling and their ability to use words in a structured way for sense. 

RRS Article 28 - You have the right to a good quality education. You should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level you can.