Reading & Phonics

Early reading and Phonics
At Thrussington, we place the highest importance on providing all children with a structured approach to learning to read from the moment they start at our school. In Class 1, we use the phonics programmes ‘Jolly Phonics’ and ‘Letters and Sounds’. We use the order of sounds taught in ‘Letters and Sounds’ because we believe the progression supports the children’s reading and spelling effectively. We use ‘Jolly Phonics’ for the multisensory method of retaining sounds using rhymes and pictures. Tricky words (words that cannot be sounded out and blended) are taught from early on in phonics learning and children build up their own tricky word packet at their own pace.
 
Reading at School
We pride ourselves on our strong reading culture at our school. Reading is at the very heart of our curriculum. Our English lessons are centred around a range of high quality children books. We link spoken language, reading and writing in order that children can become more confident in all areas of the curriculum.

In EYFS the children start with wordless books where they can verbally retell the stories to an adult and each other. This develops their story language and vocabulary. As they begin to recognise sounds they will be introduced to banded books where they can read at their own level, choosing books that interest them to encourage the love of reading from an early age.
Children have daily opportunities to read. At times, they read individually, in pairs, in small groups or as a whole class. The reading curriculum focuses on word reading (decoding words) and understanding of texts (comprehension). We teach these skills alongside each other. Opportunities are planned into our lessons for children to discuss what they are reading, share opinions and explore different responses to texts.
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We have a fantastic, well stocked library where pupils can select their own books. Each classroom also has a reading area and its own selection of books for children to read.
 

If you would like any further information regarding the curriculum, please contact your Class Teacher or our Head Teacher, Mrs Roddy.

Reading at Home
The regularity of reading at home has a significant impact on the progress and confidence a child can develop in their reading. We ask for pupils to read each night and our Reading Record is used to record and share their progress.