Phonics
At Prestwood Village School we use a systematic, synthetic phonics programme called Phonics Shed.
Phonics Shed is a narrative driven multi-sensory phonics scheme that is divided into 4 different chapters, with each chapter building on the skills and learning of previous learning.
All children begin their phonic learning in Reception. They continue to develop their learning and apply their increasing phonic knowledge throughout Year 1.
At the end of Year 1 the children, pupils will take part in the Phonics Screening Check (PSC). Introduced by the Department of Education in 2011 to assess their phonic knowledge.
In Year 2, phonics teaching continues for all children, to provide them with the best foundations for future spelling rules they will encounter in KS2 and beyond.
What is phonics?
Phonics is designed to help teach children to read and spell by teaching the skills of segmenting and blending, the alphabetic code and an understanding of how this is used in reading and spelling. Simply put, it is sounding out a word and blending the sounds back together to read the whole word. When writing, it is hearing the sounds in a word and writing them down to spell it correctly.
What is the Phonics Screening Check?
There is a National Phonics Screening Check in Year 1 (in June) where the children have to read 20 real words and 20 ‘alien’ words containing sounds from Phase Two to Five. This is conducted in a very child-friendly way by the class teachers. At the end of Year 1, you will be informed if your child has met the threshold score for the check. If they have not met the threshold, they will be given additional support in Year 2 to enable them to meet it.
Year 1 will take the Phonics Screening check during the summer term, the week commencing Monday 10th June 2024. We politely request that parents ensure children in Year 1 and those in Year 2 who have to retake the Check are in school during the administration of the phonics Screening Check.
How can I help my child?
As a parent, your involvement in supporting your child’s learning will be a vital factor in determining their success in learning to read. Daily reading for 10 minutes of your child's decodable reading book is crucial in supporting them with their reading skills.
Home Readers
Decodable books have been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.
Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together and revisit any words they found challenging.
Reading for pleasure/ Sharing book
In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen from the school library for you to enjoy together.
Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to, or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book.
The foundations for reading and writing at Prestwood Village Schools are taught daily in Phonics Shed lessons; there are also planned opportunities throughout the curriculum to extend phonics teaching and learning beyond ‘dedicated time’. Consequently, learning is applied, reinforced and relevant connections are identified for the children throughout our school day.