Phonics and Reading
Subject Leader: Mrs H McClure
At Seaton Academy, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in Nursery/Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
As a result, all of our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At Seaton Academy, we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.
At Seaton Academy, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning, and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose. We hold the belief that children should ‘Learn to read, so they can read to learn’.
Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have a Literacy/Reading Leader (Mrs McClure) who drives the early reading programme in our school. This person is highly skilled at teaching phonics and reading, and they monitor and support our reading team, so everyone teaches with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
Reading Policy 2023
Phonics: Little Wandle Documents
Reading for Pleasure
‘Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s success.’ (OECD 2002)
We value reading for pleasure highly and work hard as a school to grow our Reading for Pleasure pedagogy. We want our school to be a place where children are read to, enjoy, discuss and work with high quality books. We have provided a ‘Reading Spine’ in our classrooms so that children have access to many high-quality texts. Our ‘essential reads’ are a store of classics, creating a living library inside a child’s mind.
Each year group also have two 'Spotlight Authors'. We shine a light on these popular children's authors, so that children are provided an insight into the authors' lives and achievements. We believe it is very important for our children to understand the values, characters or themes of different types of literature written by different authors. By the end of their time at Seaton Academy, all of the children will have read and reviewed the work of many authors.
Opportunities include:
- engagement with World Book Day, National Poetry Day
- a designated story time every day where we read to the children. Our wide range of carefully chosen books open windows into other worlds and cultures, as well as reflecting the children at Seaton Academy and our local community
- an annual book fair
- 'Book and Brew' events for parental engagement with reading
- author visits
Recommended Reads
Parent Information:
For futher information and resources: https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Accelerated Reader Presentation to Parents/Carers 12/01/23
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