At St. Mark’s C of E we use FFT “Success for All” Phonics (validated scheme) to teach phonics across the school.
In Reception, the children have daily phonics lessons to provide children with the phonic knowledge and skills required.
An example of the teaching sequence is below (for Reception class).
https://vimeo.com/fftedu
We have very clear expectations about what sounds will be taught and when, alongside which common exception words will also be taught. These are then matched to your child’s reading book (based on the phonic knowledge they have secured) in order for them to continue to practise these skills when reading (both at home and in school).
The key areas for development during these shared reading sessions are as follows:
Vocabulary development – all books are aligned to the phonic scheme and words have either been previously taught, or taught on that week to ensure children are able to access the books based on their phonic knowledge to date. Time is also allocated in to the planning to discuss higher tier vocab, to ensure children understand what they are reading.
Green words – Words that children can use their phonics to decode (based on the phonic sounds taught to date)
Red words – Common exception words that the children have been taught (based on the words taught to date)
Writing – Beginning with basic letter formation but working towards writing independent sentences with capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.
Fluency – We want our children to be fluent readers, so these shared reading sessions are to teach children how to read (using their phonic knowledge to date) and to model fluency in reading. We also use techniques such as echo reading and choral reading to support children’s fluency, if needed.
As a school we hold parent meetings in Reception to ensure families are informed about their child’s phonic journey. We also invite parents in to school to watch a phonics lesson and to discuss with your class teacher how you can further support your child at home.
Your child will also have phonics work to do at home, and we ask that you hear them read every night too.
