How We Teach Phonics and Reading  

At Potter Street Academy we teach phonics mostly through the ‘Letters and Sounds’ programme. Children in Reception and Year One have at least one 25 minute phonic lesson daily and during year 2 children move from phonics lessons to spelling lessons.  

In EYFS, children learn kinaesthetic actions to match the sounds that individual letters and groups of letters make from the Jolly Phonics Programme. (see Appendix)  

Phonics lessons incorporate rapidly reading sounds in isolation and then building up the sounds in words to help them to read. This is known as oral blending. Adults say the individual sounds in words and children repeat these and say the sound. Children then spend part of a lesson reading words containing different previously taught letters and words containing a new focus letter sound. Children are also taught ‘tricky words’ that cannot be sounded out within lessons. To apply their learning, children read sentences containing words with the focused letter sound and including tricky words. 

Children also write the letter symbol to represent individual spoken sounds and then break down the word into individual sounds to help them to write.  This is known as oral segmentation. Adults say the word and the individual sounds in the word and children repeat these. Children then write the words containing the focus taught letter sound and then are given a dictated sentence incorporating words with the focus letter sound and including tricky words. 

For support with pronouncing the letter sounds please go to http://youtu.be/oZc410e7FCE ‘Sounds of the English Alphabetic Code’. 

Children in Reception and Year 1 take part in daily reading and in other year groups children take part in regular guided reading sessions. In addition, in years 4, 5 and 6 children take part in ‘Accelerated Reader’ 

Here at Potter Street Academy, children read and access books from ‘Oxford Reading Tree’, ‘Bug Club’ and ‘Rigby Star’.