Intent
At Market Drayton Infant and Nursery School, we are determined that every child will become a successful reader by the end of Year 2. We recognise that phonics is the foundation of early reading and writing and is essential in enabling children to access the wider curriculum and develop a lifelong love of reading.
Our intent is to provide a high-quality, systematic and inclusive phonics curriculum that equips all children with the knowledge and skills needed to decode, read and write with confidence. Through the teaching of the Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) programme, we ensure that children develop secure phonological awareness, accurate letter-sound correspondence and fluent word-reading skills.
We aim to:
- Provide a structured and systematic approach to the teaching and learning of phonics through the Essential Letters and Sounds programme.
- Ensure all children make strong progress in acquiring phonics knowledge and apply this confidently when reading books that are closely matched to their phonic ability.
- Enable children to become accurate and fluent readers by developing their decoding, blending and segmenting skills.
- Support the development of writing through the secure application of phonics knowledge, correct letter formation and handwriting skills.
- Identify and support children who require additional intervention so that they can keep up and achieve their full potential.
- Foster confidence, independence and enjoyment in reading from the very beginning of each child’s learning journey.
Through our ambitious and progressive phonics curriculum, we strive to ensure that every child develops the essential reading and writing skills needed for future success and a lifelong engagement with literacy.
Implementation
ELS was created to ensure every child can read well, quickly. The principles of ELS are based upon:
- the delivery of whole-class, high-quality first teaching with well-structured daily lesson plans
- the use of consistent terminology by teachers, children and parents
- the use of consistent resources that support effective teaching
- repetition and reinforcement of learning
- regular and manageable assessment to ensure that all children ‘keep up’ rather than ‘catch up’
ELS teaches children to:
- Decode words by identifying individual sounds (phonemes) and blending them together to read fluently.
- Encode words by segmenting sounds to spell and write accurately.
Daily lessons are carefully structured to minimise cognitive load, providing a consistent routine that helps children anticipate expectations and achieve success.
A key feature of ELS is consistency across the school. All staff use the same methods and terminology through whole-school training, ensuring high-quality phonics instruction regardless of changes in staffing or learning environments. Effective implementation of ELS ensures that children receive consistent, high-quality teaching every day, maximising progress in reading and writing.
ELS is based on simplicity and consistency, and the programme is delivered through whole-class lessons. Throughout ELS, you will use the same teaching sequence – Show, copy, repeat – until each child is independent. The teaching sequence is the same in all stages of the lesson, from whole class teaching to one-to-one intervention. Children are given the opportunity to hear and say each sound, first in isolation, and then within words and sentences. When introducing a new grapheme phoneme correspondence (GPC), you will use a mnemonic or rhyme with an accompanying picture to ensure that children understand. Children then hear this sound in the context of a word, and a picture and/or definition is given to support their understanding. Practice and repetition are key.
We continue phonics sessions into Autumn Term Year 2 to ensure that phonics knowledge is fully embedded.
Individual Reading Books
Individual reading books are directly linked to the phonics programme and match the individual children’s needs. The books closely match the sounds and the ‘hard to read and spell’ words (for example, said, one) that have been learnt in the class. Each child will be given one book a week.
The books that we use are those recommended in the Essential Letters and Sounds Programme. These are books published by Oxford University Press and include a range of fiction and non-fiction books.
Working with Parents
In Reception parents are expected to attend a phonics workshop in the autumn term. These have a very good uptake and involve parents working along side their child.
Here are a few resources to help you to support your child with these important stages of teaching early reading and phonics.
Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs
Pupils should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. The National Curriculum Inclusion Statement states that teachers should set high expectations for every pupil, whatever their prior attainment. We recognise that learning to read is key for children to succeed in all areas of the curriculum and as a life skill.
Effective quality first teaching is the key to enabling all children to develop their reading skills. This starts with the teaching of early phonics in early years, where children are learning to discriminate sounds through to the Essential Letters and Sounds Phonics Programme in Reception and KS1. Support specific to phonics may include:
- Using a set of carefully planned resources to support the ELS programme where children are falling behind
- Individual reading for the lowest 20% of pupils in each class every week
- Use of equipment, such as magnetic letters to support
- Regular repetition and practice throughout the day
- Modelling by the teacher
- Providing more adult support for those needing it
- Partner or group work – a collaborative approach to learning
- Support from external partners, for example, Learning Support Advisory Teacher
- Support with speech sounds – we have specialist Teaching Assistants who support children with speech, language and communication needs
- Phonics book tailored to their intervention.
Impact
Teachers continuously assess pupils’ phonics learning throughout every lesson, enabling them to identify and address misconceptions immediately. Planned review points within the teaching sequence provide opportunities for more detailed assessment, ensuring that any gaps in learning are quickly identified and addressed through a “keep up, not catch up” approach.
An online tracking system is used to monitor each child’s phonics knowledge and application. In Week 5 of every half term, pupils are formally assessed to check their recognition of taught sounds and their ability to apply these when reading words. This detailed assessment information allows teachers to adapt teaching and provide targeted support where needed.
In Year 1, pupils take the statutory Phonics Screening Check, usually in June. Outcomes from ongoing assessment and the screening check help identify pupils who require additional support. Children who do not meet the expected standard continue to receive focused phonics teaching and intervention in Year 2 before retaking the screening check at the end of the year.
As a result, pupils make strong progress in phonics, gaps in learning are addressed promptly, and children are supported to become confident and fluent readers
