Phonics & Early Reading

In English it is our aim for all children to become confident articulate speakers, fluent and expressive readers with a high level of comprehension and a love of reading, and independent and effective writers who are able to write for a variety of purposes.

Phonics

At our school, we use Unlocking Letters and Sounds, a systematic and engaging phonics programme designed to help children become confident readers and writers. The programme follows a clear progression, enabling pupils to develop their knowledge of sounds, letters, and blending skills in a structured and supportive way.

Through daily phonics lessons, children learn to:

Recognise and identify letter sounds (phonemes).
Blend sounds together to read words.
Segment words into sounds for spelling and writing.
Develop reading fluency, accuracy, and confidence.
Build a love of reading from an early age.

Unlocking Letters and Sounds uses a carefully planned sequence that ensures children revisit and practise previously taught skills while steadily introducing new learning. Lessons are interactive, engaging, and tailored to meet the needs of all learners.

We work closely with families to support phonics learning at home, providing resources and guidance to help children practise and apply their skills beyond the classroom.

By following the Unlocking Letters and Sounds programme, we aim to give every child the strong foundations they need to become successful, lifelong readers.

"Learning to read unlocks learning in every area of the curriculum."

Phonics Overview click here

Reading

We use a phonic level reading books in line with our systematic scheme and a banded system for both Home Readers and Guided Reading sessions where children can choose from a variety of genres that help to develop an understanding and love for fiction, non fiction and poetry. This is underpinned by our whole school approach - Learning To Read and Reading to Learn.

We foster a love of reading through daily story times and celebrating books, authors and stories in our reading areas. We encourage children to share and recommend books that they have enjoyed in school and at home.

Writing

In Writing throughout the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 we focus on planning for meaningful and purposeful opportunities for children to develop as writers. We use the Fab 5, Story Telling actions and Reflect and Grow to help support and develop secure understanding of sentence structures and composition, where children are confident to read their writing aloud and self edit when necessary. We believe that Talk is fundamental to our learning and we encourage drama, role play and debating when appropriate.

Time to celebrate

We celebrate children’s efforts through Learning to Learn Awards, our Bird themed spelling certificates and our Rainbow handwriting certificates. We promote the love of poetry throughout the curriculum and come together to share and explore our favourite poems fortnightly in Poetry assembly.

If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact use via email or speak to a teacher.