Phonics
Intent
At Kerr Mackie, our aim is to ensure all children become successful and confident readers by the end of Key Stage 1. We strive to equip all our children with progressive phonics knowledge so they can decode words quickly and accurately. We hope that this will allow the children to read phonetically decodable books which are matched to grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) that they already know. When spelling, we encourage children to extend their phonics knowledge to segmenting and making phonetically plausible attempts at writing words.
Implementation
In EYFS and KS1, a systematic and structured approach to teaching phonics is delivered through the Floppy Phonics scheme. At Kerr Mackie, phonics begins in Nursery where children explore sound discrimination and oral blending and segmenting. In Reception and Year 1, we deliver daily phonics sessions lasting between 30 minutes and 1 hour. Alongside this, we have introduced an additional speedy sounds session where focus codes are re-taught and re-applied to word reading.
To develop confidence and maintain challenge, Kerr Mackie’s reading routine is at the forefront of the way we teach children to read. This routine provides our children with a strategy to use when faced with an unfamiliar word.
Our reading routine:
"Spot the code, say the sounds, read the words."
Consistent half-termly assessments are used to ensure that children are making expected progress. Data from these assessments are used to ensure children are placed in a group that is matched to their ability. Where children are not making expected progress, 1:1 tutoring will be put in place to address this. Children’s gaps are pinpointed and addressed in a 5 minute intense intervention, focusing on revisiting a piece of code and applying the code to word reading.
To ensure consistency, each classroom within EYFS and KS1 is equipped with resources that children can always refer to throughout the day. We display phonics friezes with codes children have learnt alongside an alphabetic code and helpful words poster. Children have sound mats readily available and are encouraged to use them for reading and writing.
Impact
The impact of Kerr Mackie’s phonics curriculum is seen through children’s growing confidence in reading. Children feel comfortably challenged tackling unfamiliar words by applying their phonic knowledge and the strategies that they have been taught to segment and blend. In addition, children are able to use increased recognition of helpful words to support their fluency when reading books in line with their phonics knowledge.
Sound Mats
These sound mats show the order in which each code is introduced
If you would like to download these, please click on the 'download' button below:
