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​​​​​​​​Early Phonics and Reading

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Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) is our chosen phonics programme. The aim of ELS is ‘Getting all children to read well, quickly’. It teaches children to read by identifying the phonemes (the smallest unit of sound) and graphemes (the written version of the sound) and using these to read words.

 

Children begin learning phonics at the very beginning of Reception (or in Pre-School if they attend Fireflies) and it is explicitly taught every day. Children are given the knowledge and the skills to then apply this independently.

 

Children will use their growing phonics knowledge to support them in other areas of the curriculum and will have many opportunities to practise their reading. This includes reading 1:1 with a member of staff, in small groups and as a class. 

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Children continue daily phonics lessons in Year 1 and further through the school to ensure all children become confident, fluent readers.

 

Supporting Reading at Home​

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• Children will only read books that are entirely decodable, this means that they should be able to read these books quite independently

• Children should practise reading their book a minimum of 3 times per week

• We must use 'pure' sounds when supporting children to read (wi 'uh' at the end of a sound, e.g. 'c'' not 'cuh'). Please watch the videos below for how to accurately pronounce each sound:

 

Phase 2 pronunciation video - https://vimeo.com/753929025/5eaa45c0aa

Phase 3 Pronunciation video - https://vimeo.com/753931102/b9a2f8194f

Phase 5 Pronunciation video - https://vimeo.com/753933192/43104a30e0

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For more information about reading at home, please see our Homework Policy in the Policies section of the website. ​​​