Phonics at the Academy
We believe that it is important for teachers and parents to work together to give children the best start. Reading together at home is one of the easiest but most important ways in which you can help your child.
To support your child in becoming an effective and confident reader, we work with you to develop their knowledge of phonics. This will enable them to decode the different words they come across.
Phonics is all about the sounds that make up words. Children start by learning the letters and the sounds they make, and how to put them together to make and read simple words. Then they learn how letters combine to make new sounds (such as ‘th’) and move on to longer words and new reading skills.
We use the ‘Little Wandle, Letters and Sounds’ phonics programme. You can learn more about the programme here.
To help get you started, we offer parent workshops in our purpose-built training room to help you support your child in their phonic development, and ultimately their reading and writing.
Year 1 Phonic Screening
Children in year 1 will take part in the government’s statutory phonic screening check which takes place every June. The purpose of the check is to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. Children at the Academy are not aware they are being ‘checked’ but simply undertaking an enjoyable one-to-one reading activity with a familiar adult.
The screening is age appropriate and the children will already be familiar with the set-up as we are constantly reviewing children’s progress in a similar way. It should be an enjoyable activity for all children involved.
The Academy Reading Programme
The Academy uses the Collins Big Cat reading programme to support children on their reading journey. The programme, together with books from our well stocked school library, support children in becoming fluent readers through hundreds of high-quality books by top authors and illustrators.
If you would like to know more about our approach to the teaching of reading at the Academy please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
