Reading
Phonics is taught as a discrete subject, daily and in the morning for 30 minutes, until the children are confidently and fluently decoding. As part of this discreet phonics session, pupils will use and apply their taught skills through group reading or by GPC application linked to the taught lesson.
TBHGS use Song of Sounds as the chosen Systematic Synthetic Phonics Program (SSP), daily planning is provided with linked resources. The program is to be followed with fidelity, in order and how the program states to be delivered.
Pupils learning environment is supportive with classroom friezes, supported scaffolds for independent work and teachers taking every opportunity throughout the day to offer frequent opportunities to read the red, spiky words, GPC’s or green decodable word at speed for fluency, which build up over the teaching week.
All pupils undertake 30 minutes daily guided reader sessions, following a text that is within their Zone of Proximal Development or their reading phase. We use every opportunity available to apply reading skills within other areas of the curriculum.
For the love of reading, pupils access the school library with their classes once per week, where they have opportunity to select a new text for enjoyment from our regularly refreshed and stocked library. In addition, each pupil will take home an independent reading book that is within their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and then will take a quiz from what they have read
Teachers are expected to plan to meet the needs of their pupils, based on individual phonic assessments at the end of each taught block. Once assessments are analysed, teachers will then adapt teaching to support ‘keep up’ of all pupils, before moving onto the next taught block. This could be reflected in whole class teaching, discreet small / 1:1 work with targeted pupils, directed by the teacher.
Guiding Readers
Teachers are expected to plan to meet the needs of their pupils, based on summative assessments through Accelerated Reader Star assessments. These assessments are individual and classroom guiding reader groups may alter as a result. Classes are expected to have five focus guided readers groups in the classroom with all throughout the week covering: a pre-teach task, post-teach task, comprehension task, Reading Area access and Guided Reading session with the teacher. All children will be taught at least once by the teacher throughout the week.
- Baseline phonics assessments are completed within the first few days of entry into TBHGS in EYFS, but also for pupils who enter at differing points in the school year
- After each taught phonics block pupils are assessed on their recall of GPC’s, applying GPCs to decodable words, reading of red, spiky words and spelling of these words and class analysis of need is identified to plan forward.
- Pupils who fall behind the pace of the program from their assessments will receive intervention at either an individual or group level.
- Teachers will assess in the moment and adapt the subsequent lesson accordingly, or plan for an immediate ‘keep up’ session within the same day of teaching.
- Accelerated reader Assessments take place every term, through a STAR assessment, this provides individual, group and class focus for the subsequent term of planning.