May Phonics and Spelling Policy

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1 May 2014 Phonics and Spelling Policy

2 Eastway Primary School Phonics and Spelling Policy 2014 Rationale: In 2006 Sir Jim Rose completed his independent review of the teaching of early reading. The Rose Report makes it clear that high-quality phonic work should be taught systematically and discretely as the prime approach used in the teaching of early reading. The review report provided clear recommendations of what constitutes high-quality phonics work. The simple view of reading The Rose Report makes a number of recommendations for the teaching of early reading. It makes clear that there are two dimensions to reading: 1. Word Recognition 2. Language Comprehension High-quality phonic teaching secures the crucial skills of word recognition that, once mastered, enable children to read fluently and automatically. Once children are fluent readers, they are able to concentrate on the meaning of the text. Children need to acquire secure and automatic decoding skills and progress from learning to read to reading to learn for purpose and pleasure. The ultimate goal of learning to read is comprehension. Our Aims : At Eastway Primary School our aim is to produce fluent, competent readers and spellers by the end of KS1. While we recognise that phonics has a crucial part to play in the teaching of reading and spelling we support the view of the UKLA and other well respected agencies that it is not the only approach to learning to read. Through our phonics policy we aim to: Establish consistent high quality practice, seamless progression and continuity in the teaching and learning of phonics and spelling through school. Differentiate phonics and spelling work according to the needs of the children, so that all children are given sufficient challenge at a level at which they can experience success. Give the children word work strategies that will enable them to become fluent readers and confident writers. Guidelines: Beginner readers should be taught: -phoneme correspondence in a clearly defined, incremental sequence

3 word to read it onstituent phonemes to spell High Quality Phonics High quality phonics is most effective when: It is part of broad and rich curriculum that engages children in a range of activities and experiences to develop their speaking and listening skills and phonological awareness. It is multi-sensory, encompassing simultaneous visual, auditory and kinaesthetic activities to engage core learning. It is systematic and follows a carefully planned programme which reinforces and builds on previous learning to secure children s progress Is taught discretely and daily at a brisk pace. There are opportunities to reinforce and apply acquired phonic knowledge and skills across the curriculum. Children s progress in developing and applying their phonic knowledge is carefully assessed and monitored. Teaching and Learning At Eastway Primary School we follow the Letters and Sounds principles and practice of high quality phonics. The six phases of the Letters and Sounds document provides a structure for the teachers to follow and plan children s progression. The teachers carefully adapt their planning to meet the needs of the children within their class. The teacher s individual assessment of individual children will inform the rate at which the children are able to progress through the phrases and adapt their pace accordingly. Progression: EYFS It is expected that F1 will introduce Phase 1 phonics through small focused groups and activities. When appropriate, the practitioners will then introduce the initial sounds from phase 2. F2 will introduce and aim to complete Phase 2 and Phase 3 phonics. The decision of when children are introduced to phase 2 will be based on professional judgment and also bear in mind the guidance of the Rose report that most children are not ready for formal phonics teaching until around the age of 5 years old. The phonic sessions will last 20 minutes and there are also enhanced phonic activities within the indoor and outdoor environment available for the children to explore independently throughout the day. Phonics provision will be supplemented by a wide range of speaking and listening and phase 1 activities. Key Stage 1

4 High quality phonics will be delivered to the whole class, each day for 20 minutes. The teacher will cater for the needs of every child and take account of the different learning styles and needs. Year 1 will aim to have the majority of children secure at phase 5. Year 2 will revise Phase 5 and teach Phase 6. It is important that the five phases are embedded and the children have a sound understanding of the key knowledge and skills before the final sixth phase is introduced in Year 2. Year 2 teachers will strive to be able to expose all children to the key elements of phase 6 by the end of the academic year. Teaching of High Frequency Words Following Dfe guidance the reading and spelling of High frequency words ( decodable and tricky words ) are to be taught within the discreet phonics session in the progressive order set out in Letters and Sounds. Teachers should have a set of appropriate non negotiable HFW that children need to spell correctly at all times. Teachers should develop systems such as the use of spelling books, mats and word banks to support children in their common spellings. Assessments Assessments will follow the phonics: assessment and tracking guidance (DFES 2009). All teachers will ensure that they are aware of individual children s needs through formative assessments which will be kept in their guided reading file. All teachers will formally assess their children s progress at the beginning of end of every half term in order to inform their planning and records the number of children secure at each phase on the A3 school tracking sheets. Copies of tracking sheets will be passed to the Literacy Coordinator on a termly basis for monitoring purposes. Assessments will assess the children s: oneme correspondence including diagraphs/trigraphs. e of reading and spelling tricky words and high frequency words. At the end of year 1 the children will take the statutory National Phonic Screening Test. If children are still working towards the phonic test by the end of year 1 then they will work in a small intervention group to enable them to retake the test in year 2. Wave 2 and 3 Interventions available to off track pupils in both Y1 and Y2 are: Pearsons rapid phonics Project X intervention ELS (latest version) If the synthetic phonics interventions do not impact on the pupils progress the SENCO will then review and suggest alternatives. Application of Phonics skills

5 Teachers should use their professional judgment to actively seek and plan in daily opportunities for children to apply their phonic skills in a range of contexts including: 1. Guided reading from levelled books and Bug Club 2. Individual reading bug club, phonics play, home readers 3. Books and labels around the environment 4. Writing opportunities during literacy, independent tasks Phonics Progression into Key Stage 2 At Eastway, we aim to provide a rigorous, consistent approach to phonics and spelling throughout KS2 that seamlessly progresses from KS1. Phase 6 of Letters and Sounds should feed into the Read Write Inc spelling programme books throughout KS2. The teaching of RWI Spelling follows the guidelines set out in the programme, and at Eastway,from May 2014, the system for the daily teaching of spelling across KS2 (Y3, 4,5,6) is as follows: a.m Rapid phonics groups a.m Read Write Inc Class Spelling groups on 8 day cycle ; one teacher led group each day(or applicable Letters and Sounds phase in Y3 term 1) a.m Reading groups and Bug Club Groups Children who are working below Level 2A in writing or are well below the expected phonic phase on entry to Ks2 should, at the school s professional judgment, either continue working within a group at the relevant Letters and Sounds phase or have access to a relevant, rigorous intervention programme. In KS2 Rapid Phonics is the first choice of intervention programmes in KS2. Rapid phonics is also being used to plug gaps in older pupils who missed out on being taught a systematic phonic programme in KS1. Teaching HFW at KS2 Teachers should use tracking and assessments from KS1 to ensure pupils can read and spell the 300 HFW words outlined by Letters and Sounds. This then feeds into red words identified in Read Write Inc. which should be taught in accordance to the programme s guidelines. Teachers should use their professional judgment to actively seek and plan in opportunities for children to apply their spelling in a range of contexts including: Guided reading from levelled books and Bug Club. Planned spelling investigations and discussions. Writing opportunities during literacy, cross curricular and independent tasks Sara Radley May 2014

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