English Subject sheet
Progression English Writing
Progression English Reading
At Church of the Ascension Primary School we value reading as a key life skill and as such, we are dedicated to delivering a curriculum with reading firmly rooted at the centre. We strongly believe that reading is vital for all academic success; in addition we aim to ensure our children become independent, resilient, lifelong readers for both knowledge and for pleasure. Each classroom has an abundance of quality reading materials to suit all preferences and abilities within a designated reading area, which is designed to promote and celebrate reading. We set high standards for writing and our writing achievements are celebrated throughout the school on wall displays.
Reading and spelling starts with phonics. At Church of the Ascension, we use Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) to teach phonics and early reading. ELS is a synthetic phonics programme.
What is Synthetic Phonics?
Synthetic phonics is a way of teaching children to read. It teaches children how sounds are represented by written letters. Children are taught to read words by blending these sounds together to make words.
For example, they will be taught that the letters ‘m-a-t’ blend together to make ‘mat’. A synthetic phonics programme, such as ELS, is a structure for teaching these sounds in a certain order to build up children’s learning gradually. It is used daily during Reception and Year 1 to teach all the sounds in the English language.
How is ELS taught in schools?
With ELS, there is a daily phonics lesson where the teacher teaches a new sound, or reviews sounds learned earlier in the week. This is shown to the class on the whiteboard.
Children learn the letters that represent the sounds. They are then asked to read words and sentences with the new sounds in. Children will also practise writing the letters that represent the sounds.
What order are the sounds taught in?
New sounds are taught each day, with some review days and weeks to help children practise what they’ve learned.
How should the sounds be pronounced?
Children learn to read letters or groups of letters by saying the sounds they represent. Pronounce the sounds as you would say them within a word. Make sure you don’t add ‘uh’ onto the end, so for ‘m’ say ‘mm’ not ‘muh’ and for ‘l’ say ‘ull’ not ‘luh’. The videos below show you how to pronounce the sounds.
Essential Letters and Sounds – Oxford Owl
How can I help at home?
Practising the sounds
- You can help your child practise the sounds they have been learning at school. Download the charts linked above (under What order are the sounds taught in?) so you can see the list of sounds in the order they’ll be taught. You can show these to your child along with the picture to help them remember.
Blending
- After children learn to read some sounds separately, they can start blending them together to form simple words. Take a look at the video below for ideas on how you can practise word blending with your child.
Reading decodable books
- Your child will bring home reading books with words that use the sounds they have been learning that week. You may hear these reading books called ‘decodable books’. Use the prompts inside the front and back covers to enjoy the book together and help your child practise reading.
- Please follow link below for support with how to blend a word.
Essential Letters and Sounds – Oxford Owl
We believe reading is at the heart of all learning and that books should be at the heart of every child’s learning journey.
Most adults have fond memories of their favourite childhood stories, there is something magical about getting totally lost in a good book whatever your age. At school we encourage children to develop a love of books and reading which we hope will stay with them beyond primary school.
Our Approach to the Teaching of Reading
As reading is a key life skill, it is taught in English lessons and used across the whole curriculum.
At Church of the Ascension, we promote the importance of reading for enjoyment and aim to ensure that all children throughout the school always have a book available to read. We focus on the teaching of reading in two ways: the teaching of decoding words and the comprehension, or understanding, of the text. Each phase in school has their own library stocked with high quality fiction and non- fiction texts which the children have access to every day.
In Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, the children use the ‘Dot Library’ where the can select books from a range within their own reading ability. Teachers ensure the children are moved to the next level as soon as appropriate, allowing the child to be challenged in their reading. Parents are also encouraged to share and discuss the books their children bring home.
In lessons the children are taught phonics in daily, high quality and enjoyable sessions. The teachers focus on developing the skill of recognising sounds and blending these together to decode unfamiliar words. This understanding of phonics will eventually lead to independent and confident readers who gain fluency in their reading, even when faced with unfamiliar vocabulary.
In Key Stage 2 the children follow a reading programme called Accelerated Reader which is a computer-based system to calculate the reading ability of each child. The children choose books from a selection within their individual capabilities and then complete an online quiz once they finish reading the book. The data collected from these online tests and quizzes allows teachers to closely monitor progress in daily reading. Parents can access information collected about their child’s reading progress by using the ‘Home Connect’ element of Accelerated Reader.
Children in Key Stage 2 also complete a reading diary as a record of their home and school reading, where they are encouraged to make comments and share their opinions, add new vocabulary and parent’s comments. This is a vital communication between home and school about the reading habits of each child.
In English lessons, as well as reading together, the children will spend some time listening to the teacher read, this allows children to hear the intonation of voice and how to develop characters within a story. Teachers use reading together for questioning understanding and encouraging children to explore themes and share their opinions. Each class will also complete book studies as the basis of English work each term.
Guided reading is a crucial part of the teaching of reading in all stages of the school. The guided sessions are timetabled effectively to allow teachers to spend valuable time sharing a text with a small group of approximately 6 children of similar reading ability. During these sessions, teachers will ask the children challenging questions relating to what they have read and develop their depth of understanding through discussion.
Throughout the school children are given the opportunity to read together and independently in a comfortable way which ensures they make progress and develop as readers. We continually strive to celebrate books and the joy of reading through whole school initiatives such as Roald Dahl Day, World Book Day and theatre visits to follow-up a book study.