Higher Openshaw Community School
Phonics
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go! - Dr Seuss
Our school promotes a love of reading and here at Higher Openshaw we provide a print rich environment for all of our pupils. In our school, phonics is taught systematically and consistently across EYFS and KS1 as well as in intervention sessions across KS2. In KS1 we do this using the Read Write Inc program of study.
Across EYFS & KS1, children have daily phonics lessons- each session is broken up into different parts including: revision of previous sounds taught, teaching of a new sound, reading words with the new sound and writing them. Children who have not completed the programme continue in KS2 in streamed groups.
Direct Teaching
Direct teaching underpins the programme. Spelling is taught cumulatively and systematically, with deliberate, focused practice. Constant revision and practice are key to children’s success.
Children learn the routines and behaviours necessary for each activity, and practise these until they use them automatically. This allows them to focus on what matters most – learning to spell.
Content
Phonics makes sense of the most complex alphabetic code in the world, with its 150 spellings of 44 speech sounds.
The spelling programme:
- builds upon teaching strategies and spelling activities from Read Write Inc. Phonics.
- is organised in daily, 15-minute well-paced lessons
- provides plenty of writing practice, with a clear record of children’s progress
The programme also makes learning to spell enjoyable for children.
- alternative spellings of vowels
- alternative spellings of consonants
- homophones
- the impact of adding prefixes and suffixes to root words
- how to spell plural nouns
- ‘silent’ letters