Phonics

Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. At Huish, our vision is that children will become fluent, skilled and attentive readers with a genuine lifelong love of reading. Effective phonics teaching is the first step to achieving this.  We follow the Read Write Inc. programme to teach our children the 44 different phonemes (sounds) and the core skills of segmenting and blending.  Our teaching is systematic and synthentic, which means we teach in an ordered sequence, from simple to more complex rules.

Our team of highly skilled teachers and teaching support staff attend regular trainings, ensuring consistency and best practice is delivered.  Children’s progress is continually reviewed with individual phonics assessments taking place half termly and monitored using a tracking system.  If a child is identified as working below the expected level, additional support is quickly given and parents are informed and advised how they can best help their child.  As repetition is a vital part of a child’s phonics learning, resources and support are available for parents.

The National Phonics Screening Check is performed in June of Year 1. The purpose of the screening check is to confirm that all children have learned phonic decoding to an age appropriate standard. Children who do not meet the required standard for the check in year 1 enter again in year 2 and receive additional intervention support. As children enter KS2, specific provision is made for those few children still requiring support.

Through the Read Write Inc programme, children will be equipped with the skills to decode unfamiliar vocabulary using the strategies they have been taught in their daily phonics lessons.   As children move up through the school, they are able to focus on developing their fluency and comprehension skills, allowing them to explore the rich and varied literacy world around them.