Early Reading at Cherry Tree Academy
SUBJECT LEADER: MRS N WILKINSON
Phonics
At Cherry Tree Academy the systematic teaching of phonics has a high priority throughout Foundation stage and Key Stage 1. We use a synthetic phonics teaching programme produced by Ruth Miskin called Read Write Inc. (RWI) Phonics. We value reading as an important life skill and recognise the key role phonics plays in enabling pupils to become lifelong readers. Pupils usually complete the programme by Year 2; some may even finish towards the end of Year 1. Pupils in Lower Key Stage 2 who need extra support with decoding may also follow the programme.
We value and encourage children to read for enjoyment and recognise how important an understanding of phonics is for achieving this. Through the Read Write Inc programme, our aim is for all children to become confident, fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One. Children can then focus on developing their fluency and comprehension as they move through school. They will have the ability to decode and work out unfamiliar words in any new texts they encounter.
Here at Cherry Tree Academy, reading is the heart of our school. We want children to establish an appreciation and love of reading at all stages of their learning journey. We are committed to sharing high quality and vocabulary rich texts across the curriculum so that children may develop knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live.
Through the teaching of Phonics, children will learn:
- Grapheme‒Phoneme correspondences in a clearly defined, incremental sequence.
- To blend phonemes (sounds) in order, through a word to read it.
- To segment words into phonemes for spelling.
- That blending and segmenting are reversible processes.
Subject Leader: Nicole Wilkinson