Phonics

Learning to read is a fundamental skill for life. In EYFS, children are taught the sounds made by individual, pairs and clusters of letters. They read banded books with strongly patterned language and picture cues. In EYFS and Key Stage 1, children have regular phonics sessions that assist them to recognise letters, understand the sound they make and blend these sounds together to create words. Letter-sound correspondence is taught through a highly structured synthetic phonic approach. Alongside this they learn to instantly recognise by sight the most common words in the English language. Many of these words are not phonically regular and learning them by heart is vital as they appear so regularly in all the texts they encounter. To teach beginning readers about letter-sound correspondence we follow ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised’. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP) developed for schools by schools. Based on the original Letters and Sounds, but extensively revised to provide a complete teaching programme meeting all the expectations of the National Curriculum and preparing children to go beyond the expectations of the Phonics Screening Check. More information for parents is available at https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/ 

Little Wandle Phonics Overview

Little Wandle PowerPoint for Parents

  

Reading Schemes            

Big Cat Phonics for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised

Children will come home with a reading practice book. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently. This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading. Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.  The children have to be able to demonstrate they thoroughly understand what they are reading and why.  In order for the children to get the very best from a book, they must be able to enjoy the text presented to them.  We encourage the children to become reading detectives as they learn to pick apart the hidden messages contained within a story and help them to learn how to read for pleasure which in turn allows them to become engaged readers with a developed love for stories. We use the Collins banded reading scheme Big Cat Phonics, which follows the 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised' scheme. These books are levelled so that children can progress through the books in levels of difficulty, reading deliberately patterned, simple, repetitive grammatical structures helps children to achieve early success. In addition to reading the physical books, children also have access to an online library.

Click here for more information. 

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Reception Phonics Workshop

 

 

 

                                       

What is 'Accelerated Reader'?

Children from Year 2 upwards are taking part in the Accelerated Reader programme which helps us to manage and monitor children's independent reading practice. Each child picks a book at their own level and reads it at their own pace. When finished, the child takes a short quiz on the computer. (Passing the quiz is an indication that the child has understood what they have read.) Accelerated Reader gives children and teaching staff feedback based on the quiz results, which are then used to help the child set goals and direct on-going reading practice.

 

As they read, children are taught to make appropriate notes in their Reading Journal, e.g. chapter summaries, character notes, etc. which will support them when carrying out their quiz. If children do not pass the quiz, teaching staff will support them by:

  • helping the child to choose another book that is more appropriate
  • ask more probing questions as the child reads and before they take a quiz
  • pair the child with another student, or even read the book to them.

 

Beanstalk

We are lucky enough to work with Beanstalk, a national reading charity. Beanstalk volunteers come to school twice a week to listen to selected children read and discuss their favourite books.

 

 

Reading Events

Drop everything and read!

We know the importance of children being read aloud to so every day at 3 o’clock, each class is read aloud to. This enables all children to share a range of texts during their time at our school.

 

Book Grab

We realise that once you have developed an appetite for reading, it can be quite expensive to constantly buy new books to read. At Cranbrook Primary, we regularly hold ‘Book Grabs’ to encourage children to read new books. This is an excellent way of recycling books, saving money and encouraging book recommendations amongst the children. 

 

Oxford University Press - Word Gap

We’re proud to be a Word Gap Partner School in association with Oxford University Press. We’re committed to closing the word gap and improving children’s vocabulary and wider life chances. To find out more about the word gap, read the associated research and available resources here. 

 

Click here to see the diary of reading events at Cranbrook CE Primary

 

The Library

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Our School Library

We were fortunate enough to have our library updated in 2018. Our brand new library was opened by Councillor Seán Holden. It is well stocked and is a hub for learning in school.

 

Our Librarians

At Cranbrook Primary, our library is run by our Key Stage 2 Librarians and some of our excellent volunteers. Librarians man the library during lunchtimes, helping children to select new books and complete their Accelerated Reader quizzes. They also share stories together and complete book reviews with the children based on the books they have shared.

 

Visiting Cranbrook Library

Each class frequently visits Cranbrook library which is conveniently located at the end of our road. During the visits, children receive a tour of the library and a talk from a librarian who explains the services on offer. They also read books based on their topic and complete a quiz based on the knowledge they have acquired. The visits have created a real buzz around reading and it is great to see children accessing such a valuable service in the community.

 

“Visiting Cranbrook Library is really fun because I get to find new books.” Year 4 child

“The library has a range of exciting books for both children and adults.” Year 6 child

“Even I discovered new books in the library.” Member of staff