Early Years
As soon as children join us in nursery at St. Wilfrid’s, they are engaged in carefully planned pre-literacy activities that help them to develop the skills needed to read and write. We use the Launchpad for Literacy approach to carefully assess each child’s readiness to begin learning phonics.
You can read about the Launchpad approach we use in our Early Years by clicking the link to their website: LAUNCHPAD FOR LITERACY
All children are taught to read at St. Wilfrid’s, using the synthetic phonics programme – Sounds Write. This structured scheme teaches children reading and spelling alongside one another, ensuring clear and strong links between the two skills are embedded.
The children are taught the initial code in early years, learning the sounds that are spelt with a single letter, and then are able to apply these to longer words, becoming ‘expert’ and fluent in these before moving to more complex sounds.
Find out more about Sounds Write here: SOUNDS WRITE PHONICS WEBSITE
Reading books are given to children as they learn new sounds and spellings. These are fully decodable, ensuring that the children have the opportunity to practise the phonics they are currently learning, revisit prior learning and enjoy success with reading from the start.
Key Stage 1
As children move into Key stage 1 (Year 1), they continue to learn to read and spell, using the Sounds Write programme.
The extended code is introduced to children in Year 1 – where two or more letters spell a single sounds (ee, ou etc), and continue to develop their understanding and application of phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters) throughout Year 2. Children work daily, as a whole class, building, reading and spelling words containing the new phonic knowledge, and learning to apply these in their own writing.
In all classes, children enjoy sharing a range of focus class texts, and using these to inform and improve their own comprehension and writing skills.
Our English curriculum focusses heavily on using quality texts to enhance learning. Using them as models of writing, stimulus for reading and inspiration for the children’s work.
Key Stage 2
At St. Wilfrid’s our aim is to provide a rich English curriculum across Key Stage 2, where children encounter a range of whole texts, reading these with confidence, engaging and responding to narrative and using their knowledge of these to influence and inform their skills as writers.
In spelling and decoding activities across Key Stage 2, the Sounds Write approach is used to trigger prior knowledge, and apply this to tackling longer or tricky words and spellings.
Children who need further support with phonics benefit from carefully planned interventions, delivered one to one or within smaller groups, at their level, to help to narrow any gaps in their learning.
At St. Wilfrid’s our aim is to encourage a love of reading in all of our pupils, and to provide opportunities for children to read for pleasure and purpose. These include:
- Guided reading sessions
- Class stories
- Visits to the local library
- Reading for pleasure in all classes
- Cross curricular reading
- Reading for research
- Home reading
- Whole School Reading/Writing weeks
Encouraging a Love of Reading
We use the Accelerated Reader programme to encourage children to read independently, at a level that offers both success and challenge. This programme allows children to practise comprehension skills through online quizzes that teachers can use to monitor children’s progress. This Accelerated Reader library includes a wide range of children’s fiction and non-fiction books, which are levelled to ensure the children will be able to read and understand the books they choose. Children’s reading achievements are recognised in whole school assemblies every half term, when we celebrate and reward their successes together.
You can see information about your child’s progress by logging into Renaissance Home Connect with the user name and password they use at school. Click the links below for more information.
Useful Links and Downloads
Visit the AR Book Find site, to find books at your child’s level.
The Words for Life website has lots of information about activities and ideas to develop your child’s literacy skills, from birth to age 11.
Parents Information on Accelerated Reader
Parents Information on Home Connect
Parents Guide to helping your child to become a successful reader
Adobe Reader
You may need a product like Adobe Reader (free download) to view our PDF documents on our website.