Reading and Phonics Schemes

Our approach is designed to ensure all children develop strong foundational literacy skills, preparing them for fluent reading and writing.

Phonics:

To prepare learners to read across the curriculum with fluency, enjoyment, accuracy and understanding, they require exposure to a range of developmentally appropriate and inclusive learning experiences.

Our systematic teaching of phonics has high priority throughout EYFS and KS1. Phonics is taught daily in discrete lessons as well as through incidental learning in these year groups. 

At LAO, phonics teaching enables children to become fluent readers and confident spellers. Phonics teaching also continues beyond KS1 for those pupils who need more time. 

We follow a systematic synthetic phonics programme; Phonics International (a DfE validated programme). ‘Phonics International (PI) is a highly-organised, systematic and yet flexible online synthetic phonics programme (program)‘.

Reading:

At Leigh Academy Oaks, we cultivate a love of reading and ensure every child understands its importance. Reading for pleasure is integral to all aspects of school life, establishing a robust reading culture. This focus helps pupils develop learning strategies and enhances their life opportunities. We prioritise exposing students to a wide and diverse selection of texts, as this significantly boosts their educational achievement.

Through explicit teaching of reading, children learn to read with confidence, fluency and understanding. They learn to appreciate the joy and wonder of reading, fiction and nonfiction, which is a lifelong skill.  Adults promote and value books throughout the curriculum and school life, with opportunities to engage in a shared love and celebration of reading. 

Pupils read phonetically decodable books with staff which closely match their phonic knowledge. Pupils take books home and our parents are encouraged to read regularly with their children. 

Reading comprehension lessons across the school are supported by the Reading Rainbow and the teaching of the reading content domains. The Reading Rainbow allows for rich discussion of core texts through carefully chosen lenses, starting in Nursery. 

Both fluency and comprehension are modelled by an adult to provide learners with an accurate example of how proficient reading sounds and to demonstrate the thinking processes involved in understanding a text.  

The reading content domains found in the National Curriculum Test Framework are taught explicitly with an understanding that reading skills build upon and support each other. This ensures children have a sound understanding of each of the skills and how they relate. Children are exposed to high-quality and diverse texts linked to the transdisciplinary theme and central idea of a class’s Inquiry-based learning.   Opportunities to recall prior knowledge, understand and widen vocabulary, develop fluency and read for meaning are carefully planned and discussed with children.  

If you have any questions regarding the Phonics International scheme or how you can best support your child’s reading development, please contact your child’s class teacher.