Phonics/Spelling
At Slimbridge we use Read, Write, Inc. phonics, a DfE-approved, synthetic phonics programme, which is designed to enable all children to develop effective reading and writing skills.
During their summer term at Little Otters, our youngest children are introduced to set 1 sounds, aligning with the Department for Education’s (DfE) guidance on early phonics teaching.
The DfE emphasises the importance of developing phonological awareness in early years education, stating that “high-quality phonic work should be taught discretely, with opportunities provided for children to apply their phonic knowledge in reading and writing activities across the curriculum.” Through engaging activities and resources, we lay the foundation for phonics development, nurturing children’s ability to recognise and manipulate sounds in spoken language.
As our children start Reception, they continue to learn set one sounds, following the guidance ‘Making a Strong Start in reception. Read, Write Inc has been carefully selected by our school, following our Ofsted inspection in 2023, which encouraged us to focus on accelerating provision for the lowest 20% of our children. We want these children and all others, to make rapid progress in understanding the English phonetic code. Our passion is that all of our pupils will leave Slimbridge as fluent readers, who can decode and encode.
Throughout Key Stage 1, our students progress through a systematic synthetic phonics program, in line with the DfE’s recommended approach. The DfE emphasises the effectiveness of synthetic phonics in teaching children to read and write, stating that “a synthetic approach focuses on teaching the common sounds represented by letter or letter groups and how to blend them together to read or write new words.” Our carefully sequenced program enables our students to build their phonics knowledge and skills progressively, equipping them to read and write a wide range of words and phonemes.
We prioritise the individual needs of our students, ensuring they receive appropriate support and challenge. The DfE’s guidance emphasises the importance of careful groupings to ensure every child can reach their potential, stating that “it is important to match the complexity of the phonics content to the knowledge and skills of the pupils.” Through regular assessments, we evaluate our students’ progress and adjust groupings accordingly, providing targeted instruction to support their ongoing development.
We recognise that some children may require additional support in phonics and spelling. In line with the DfE’s guidance on intervention programs, our Teaching Assistants and SENCo provide targeted one-to-one or small group interventions to address individual needs, helping our students make progress and thrive in their phonics and spelling development. We provide on to one coaching for our staff to ensure they become experts at teaching phonics.