Phonics at Enfield Academy

 

Curriculum Intent

 

At Enfield Academy we recognise that phonics is the body of knowledge that is necessary for children to learn to read and spell - this underpins access to the rest of the curriculum.  We believe that following a systematic synthetic phonics programme from the very beginning of formal education enables our children to have the necessary skills to begin their journey as readers.  We also value and encourage pupils to read for pleasure and recognise that this starts with the foundations of acquiring letter sounds, segmenting and blending skills – enjoying success and gaining confidence from a positive experience.

 

At the end of Reception, we intend for children to have grasped the skills needed up to Phase four of the Bug Club Phonics Programme, learning to read words and simple sentences accurately.  During year one, children consolidate previous learning, learn new content and practise and apply what they have learnt in segmenting and blending.  Therefore, they are equipped with the knowledge to be able to complete the phonics check at the end of Year One.  In Year Two, time is spent further revising these key skills so that children are able to tackle the demands of reading more challenging texts and learning more complex spelling patterns.  

 

Curriculum Implementation

 

At Enfield Academy we use the systematic synthetic phonics programme, Bug Club Phonics.  This programme teaches letter sounds very rapidly, explicitly showing children how to build up words with letters from the start, and always includes blending with printed words.  Systematic synthetic phonics does not normally teach spelling, but Bug Club Phonics does teach spelling by reversing the reading process.  This process is known as segmenting and is followed by the children reading the word they have produced by sounding and blending.  

 

In this approach, both blending for reading and segmenting for spelling are fully scaffolded. We model for the children how to sound and blend words for reading, but in each lesson children must attempt to sound and blend words for themselves to find out how they are pronounced. We also model for the children how to segment for spelling and continue to scaffold the children through the process with each word they spell. This ensures that they identify each phoneme and choose the appropriate grapheme in turn, until the word is spelt. 

 

In Reception, Bug Club Phonics teaches a new grapheme and related phoneme in every phoneme session. This fast pace, backed up by daily revision of past teaching, has proved the most effective and successful method of phonic training. This means that the basic 40+ phonemes are acquired quickly, and early reading skills develop rapidly. The order of grapheme introduction ensures that children are able to start reading and spelling a wide range of words at the earliest possible stage.  As the children move into Key Stage One, the same method is applied with a focus on learning alternative pronunciations for vowel phonemes.  Once in Year Two, most children are ready for the demands of Phase 6, using Spelling Shed to support this, and are introduced to more complex, multi-syllabic words and morphemes such as prefixes and suffixes.  The children also cover less common grapheme–phoneme correspondences and phonic irregularities, and apply their phonic skills in a wide range of reading and spelling settings. 

 

Alongside the teaching of phonics, frequent and rigorous assessments are in place to monitor children who are at risk of falling behind.  They are quickly identified and the appropriate additional scaffolds or catch-up lessons are implemented in addition to continuing with the whole-class teaching sessions.

 

Bug Club Phonics is supported by decodable readers which match the order of phoneme introduction.  Decodable readers are introduced after just 10 days’ teaching at the end of Unit 2. This enables children to apply the taught strategies and enjoy contextualised reading early on. We ensure that each decodable book is matched closely to the children’s phonic ability, thus ensuring children are able to practise and consolidate their learning at each stage.  Before, during and after the introduction of the Bug Club Phonics readers, children are exposed constantly to a rich and varied diet of book experiences to ensure their enthusiasm for reading is nurtured; their comprehension skills are being developed; and their speaking and listening skills are extended.

 

 

Curriculum Impact

 

The impact of using Bug Club Phonics as a systematic synthetic phonics programme, along with the earliest possible introduction of decodable reading books, enable children at Enfield Academy to get off to the best possible start on their reading journey.  They quickly develop the necessary skills to see themselves as ‘readers’ and apply their knowledge when beginning to spell and write sentences.  We believe that reading is the key to all learning and so the impact of our phonics and reading curriculum can be seen across all areas of the curriculum.  

Curriculum Intent

At Enfield Academy, our intent is to ensure that all our pupils receive a high-quality education in reading that will develop pupils' word reading and comprehension skills as reading is fundamental to literacy. This will ensure our pupils have the ability to read with great fluency and accuracy to guarantee they have the skills required to access the reading required across the curriculum at Enfield Academy and beyond. In addition, our pupils will develop a love of reading.
Through reading, children are exposed to a range of high-quality literature of different genres, enabling pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. As a result of this, pupils develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Children acquire a love of reading and read often, for both pleasure and information, at home and in school. 

At Enfield Academy we follow the National Curriculum to ensure our children…
The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
•    read easily, fluently and with good understanding,
•    develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information,
•    acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading,
•    appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage,
•    use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas.

Curriculum Implementation

At Enfield Academy of New Waltham, we use a plethora of high-quality literature to engage our pupils. We understand that the two dimensions of reading required distinct teaching. English orthography (written language conventions) is a deep and complex system which requires discrete teaching through a synthetic systematic phonics system to ensure pupils are confident in decoding new words and able to rapidly recall familiar words. Word reading skills need to be developed early with a focus on fluency, accuracy and prosody (rhythm and intonation of language). Comprehension of a text relies on pupils’ understanding of vocabulary; their strong background knowledge of the world; how well pupils understand how sentences are structured (i.e. pronoun use referring back to initial noun); understanding of text structure (i.e. genre conventions, paragraphs, bold/italic use) and their own active construction of word meaning. Comprehension strategies (predicting, self-questioning, clarifying, summarising, and thinking about relevant prior knowledge) are discretely taught and modelled when teachers regularly read aloud high-quality text to pupils and engage in discussion with them about those texts. Alongside the reading aloud of high-quality texts and in-depth discussion, we use a VIPERS approach to reading throughout the school to facilitate an in-depth understanding of the individual skills of reading and how these skills interconnect to provide a rich understanding of the text. We instil an enriched vocabulary through the systematic teaching of Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary in English lessons and through the wider curriculum. Children are given time to enjoy reading and have access to a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts in our school library and in each classroom’s designated reading area. 

In EYFS, our children are:
•    taught to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write using Phonics Bug,
•    given opportunities to listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events,
•    taught to respond to what they hear with relevant comments, or actions, including ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions,
•    given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest,
•    helped to use books and stories to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.

In KS1 and KS2, our children are taught to:
•    use their pre-existing phonic knowledge to help them decode new words,
•    use their understanding of morphology to help read and understand a wider range of vocabulary,
•    reread sentences for meaning and self-correct where necessary,
•    speak fluently and confidently about books they have read or that have been read to them,
•    make inferences about texts or characters,
•    use evidence to support their opinions or the opinions of others. 

Children in all year groups have daily exposure to reading. We ensure the children are exposed to a rich variety of texts throughout each year group through our reading spine as modelled and shared by the class teacher regularly.  In EYFS, pupils engage with phonics sessions for 30 minutes daily. Pupils have the opportunity to engage in phonics activities during their child-initiated learning through play provision. In EYFS, pupils read to an adult on a one-to-one basis to encourage them to develop the blending skills they are learning in phonics sessions. They explore through a mix of play, explicit formal lessons and links to other areas of the curriculum. Adult led literacy sessions are delivered to encourage book talk around a high-quality shared text. Nursery rhymes and poetry are considered to be a vital part of our Early Years reading provision. In Year 1, pupils engage in a daily phonics session for 30 minutes. Pupils will read aloud to an adult and engage in adult-led book discussions within a small group. All pupils in Early Years and Year 1 receive a home reading book that matches their phonic knowledge. In Year 2, pupils receive additional phonics sessions if they were not secure at the end of Year 1. In KS2, reading is explicitly taught. Reading fluency sessions occur daily and allow pupils the chance to engage with echo and choral reading with texts which relate to the wider curriculum area that is being studied. Pupils have access during these sessions to Reading Plus and Lexia to support their independent reading work. A class text is shared with the children and in-depth discussion around this text will take place. We develop the children's vocabulary with rich and engaging texts. At Enfield Academy, we recognise the importance of discussing vocabulary with our pupils in the context of our reading and then providing future opportunities to revisit this vocabulary to embed it. Every classroom has a display of high-quality texts that the children can read and every teacher models being a reader to pupils. Poetry is shared with every class on a weekly basis to ensure alongside fiction and non-fiction texts to ensure all pupils are able to experience a full range of genres. We also encourage and support pupils to engage in a range of books which celebrate differences between people to provide children to opportunity to see themselves and their families (whatever shape and size) in print which also promotes equality and diversity. We also support and encourage reading at home, with reading champion awards to promote regular reading. We appreciate the parental support that goes hand in hand with developing and fostering a love of reading at Enfield.

Curriculum Impact

Assessment criteria has been developed in line with the National Curriculum requirements and enables us to assess children as they move through each stage of their learning journey. We regularly attend Moderation Meetings in the Humber Hub of the Enquire Learning Trust for all year groups to discuss standards wider than just our school community. In addition to trust Moderation Meetings, we also moderate internally through a systematically monitored ‘Annual Cycle of Evaluation’ which includes regular learning walks and book scrutiny in order to measure impact and assess the implementation of our curriculum.

Our aim is to achieve a GLD (Good Level of Development) in EYFS in line with national standards and be at or above the national standard in the Phonics Screening in Year 1, KS1 National Tests and KS2 National Tests. 

Every child in our school is instilled with a love for reading that will last a lifetime. Our pupils have developed the knowledge and skills that will help them as they continue on to secondary school.

Mrs Johnson 
(Early Reading Champion)

Mrs Page
(English Lead)
 

 

 

 

 

Curriculum Intent

At Enfield Academy, our intent is to ensure that all our pupils are able use high-quality writing to communicate their thoughts, ideas and emotions effectively at Enfield Academy and beyond. 

Writing is an integral part of our curriculum. All children from EYFS to Year 6 are provided with many opportunities to develop and apply their writing skills across the curriculum. On their journey at Enfield Academy, pupils develop a clear understanding of the writing process in order to establish themselves as an author in their own right. Through our book-led curriculum, we foster pupils' interest in writing and offer a reason and context for writing, which enables the children to write for purpose and audience. Pupils are taken on a writing journey which builds their knowledge of writing for context and purpose; allows the opportunity to explore a variety of genres; enables them to plan, draft and re-draft their writing. In order to establish this, pupils develop their knowledge of genre features, audience, language and effective composition. Writing requires an understanding of these aspects of composition as well as the ability to develop automaticity in transcription. It is essential for pupils to develop automatic, fluent, legible handwriting that they can maintain at pace. Automaticity in transcription allows children to focus on their composition by ensuring that handwriting and knowledge of spelling patterns and rules are fully embedded. It is our intention to broaden our pupils' exposure to high level vocabulary in order to allow pupils to apply their understanding of vocabulary and grammatical features within English and across the curriculum. 

Through English, pupils learn to understand the relationships between words, word meaning, implied meaning and figurative language within writing lessons, whilst ensuring that children are supported in their spelling strategies. We intend that pupils will be taught to control their understanding of spoken and written language and know how to use Standard English effectively in writing.

At Enfield Academy we follow the National Curriculum to ensure our children…
The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
•    acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language,
•    appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage,
•    write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences,
•    use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas.

Curriculum Implementation

At Enfield Academy of New Waltham, we use a plethora of high-quality literature to inspire our writing and a range of stimuli which ensures our pupils engage with and enjoy writing. and description. As a school, we have devised our own approach to the writing process through the use of carefully designed sequences of lessons demonstrated on unit plans. Unit plans begin with an examination of the genre and key structural ad grammatical features associated with the text type. Pupils will then be given the opportunity to explore grammatical and punctuation features in depth and in appropriate context for their writing before moving on to plan and research their own writing. Teacher modelling is an essential part of the writing process at Enfield Academy which is demonstrated before pupils begin to draft their own work. Pupils are provided with the time and opportunity to revise and edit their own work before working collaboratively with their peers to improve each other’s work. We use peer critique to inspire critical thinking, develop the process of collaborative revising and fervently celebrate writing pieces across the school.

In EYFS, our children are:
•    taught to link sounds and letters and to begin to write using Phonics Bug,
•    given an array of writing opportunities throughout their play and exploration,
•    encouraged to develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.

In KS1 and KS2, our children are taught to:
•    speak fluently and confidently, 
•    use appropriate punctuation for their age,
•    link sentences and paragraphs together using cohesive devices,
•    develop their own individual author's voice,
•    reflect on and edit their work independently and through peer critique,
•    write increasingly complex stories, poems and a range of other text types, building on their knowledge of features each year.

All children have daily exposure to writing. In EYFS, children begin with mark-making before rapidly progressing to forming graphemes that represent the phonemes they have been taught through Phonics Bug. Pupils will have the opportunity to orally construct sentences that the adult will scribe for them to ensure they develop and understanding of writing as a form of communication. Pupils progress to writing their own words, phrases and captions to encapsulate meaning relating to visual stimuli. During child-led learning through play provision, additional mark-making and writing opportunities are provided. By the end of Early Years, pupils will have the opportunity to write simple sentences that demonstrate their understanding of appropriate grammatical structures and use phonetically plausible spellings. 

In Years 1-6, pupils use the class text as a basis for their writing. Children are provided with opportunities to discuss and engage with the text and the genre before being guided along their writing journey. In Year 1, there is a focus on the transcriptional elements of writing to ensure pupils develop automaticity with handwriting and spelling. In Year 1, pupils develop their understanding of spelling rules and patterns through the continued use of Phonics Bug. In Year 1, pupils are encouraged to develop their writing skills orally as a form of communication before moving on to encapsulating their meaning through written communication. Children are given authentic experiences as a basis from which to write. In Years 2 – 6, pupils are provided with cross-curricular writing opportunities. Pupils begin to use Spelling Shed to further develop their understanding of morphology, etymology and spelling patterns and rules.

From Early Years to Year 5, pupils follow the Nelson Handwriting scheme for the teaching of handwriting to ensure fluency and automaticity in legible, joined handwriting by the end of Year 5. In Years 1 – 6, writing lessons begin a retrieval activity which focuses on grammar and punctuation that pupils have already been taught.

Curriculum Impact

Assessment criteria has been developed in line with the National Curriculum requirements and enables us to assess children as they move through each stage of their learning journey. We regularly attend Moderation Meetings in the Humber Hub of the Enquire Learning Trust for all year groups to discuss standards wider than just our school community. In addition to trust Moderation Meetings, we also moderate internally through a systematically monitored ‘Annual Cycle of Evaluation’ which includes regular learning walks and book scrutiny in order to measure impact and assess the implementation of our curriculum.

Our aim is to achieve a GLD (Good Level of Development) in EYFS in line with national standards and be at or above the national standard at the end of KS1 and KS2.

Every child in our school is instilled with a love for writing that will last a lifetime. Our pupils have developed the knowledge and skills that will help them as they continue on to secondary school.

Mrs Page
(English Lead)
 

English Curriculum Plan

English Skills Progression