Every child learns to read at Landewednack School and this is our highest priority. Early reading is a key element of the foundational knowledge that children need to succeed. This starts in our Nursery where children spend time developing phonological awareness. In the term before they start school, our Nursery children start Read Write Inc phonics and this is continued until they have completed the program and are fluent readers. Learning to read and write confidently helps children to succeed in all areas of life. Phonics is an important way that we teach children to read, spell and write.
What is Phonics?
Phonics is when we teach children the correspondences between sounds (phonemes) and graphemes (letters). For example, in children learn that "oa" makes a long o sound like in goat.
This helps children to learn o read by looking at the graphemes (letters) and saying the sounds (phonemes). They can then blend these sounds to read the word. As children get better at phonics, they can do this in their head. Phonics also helps children spell - when they say or hear a word, they can segment that word into different sounds, and write down the grapheme (letter/letters) that make each sound in the word.
All students in EYFS (Nursery and Reception) and Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2) receive a phonics lesson each day, and when they are ready, children take home 1-3 decodable books each week which are directly linked to the learning they have been doing at school. Practise makes permenant and therefore the most important thing you can do is read with your children as much as possible. It is important for them to read to you but also that you share stories at home over and over again.
We are committed to ensuring all children keep up with this progression, which is why we assess children's learning frequently and arrange tailored support for any child who needs it.
