Phonics

At Ancaster, we teach the children to read through a variety of different approaches. Fundamentally, the main approach to the teaching of reading begins when the children first enter the Early Years Foundation Stage and they begin to encounter our robust synthetic phonics programme via Rising Stars Rocket Phonics. This continues throughout Key Stage 1 where the children are taught to decode and blend sounds to form the first steps of reading and incorporate this into their writing.

We explicitly teach phonics every day and tailor the learning to a child's specific need by making provision for different adults to take groups of children based on their ability. This means that learning is personalised and designed to match pupil need in this vital and key area of the curriculum.

To ensure phonics is at the heart of reading and spelling in our school and to make sure all children have a sound understanding, we continue our phonics provision into Key Stage 2. At present, children within Key Stage 2 are receiving phonics teaching matched to their ability.

How we teach Reading...

In addition to daily phonics provision we  also hold daily Reading sessions which allow the children to use the decoding skills they have learnt through phonics to demonstrate an understanding of a specific text. Reading comprehension is a vital part of the teaching process within reading and we ensure that a variety of skills are taught to the children during these sessions. We use a blend of whole class, as well as guided, reading sessions to ensure our pupils are taught how to read for meaning and pleasure.

Home Reading

Please read regularly at home with your child and use the reading diary provided to record what has been read, these diaries should be in school each day.  We provide a wide variety of texts for home. Home reading books have been 'banded' to ensure they match the different reading stages and we have also established a  free reading system which allows the children to feel independent in the books they are choosing to read at home whilst allowing us to ensure the pitch and challenge of each book is suitably matched to the pupil's reading ability.

If you would like to discuss reading with us, please make an appointment to see the relevant member of staff. Miss Footitt is the English  Subject Leader and will be able to answer any questions as will your child's class teacher.