Phonics

Phonics Curriculum Statement
At St Margaret’s we believe that phonics provides the foundations of learning to support children in becoming confident and fluent readers and writers. We value reading as a key life skill and are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers. Through the teaching of systematic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One. Children can then build on this and further develop their comprehension skills as they meet increasingly challenging texts through the school.

Daily phonics lessons
Phonics is taught daily to all children in Reception and KS1 through systematic and high quality teaching. In these lessons children are taught the key skills of segmenting (splitting words into their separate sounds, or phonemes) and blending (combining sounds, or phonemes, to make a word) to support the reading and spelling of words. Each lesson will provide an opportunity to develop these skills and learn to decode unfamiliar words. The children are also taught how to read common exception words (tricky words), that are not phonically regular.

Year 1 and Year 2 assessments
Children are assessed at the end of Year 1 using a Government Statutory Assessment Tool known as the Phonics Screening Check. This screening check confirms whether the child is able to use their skills to decode to an appropriate standard. It also allows us to identify children that will need further phonics support in Year 2. Those who do not meet the required standard in Year 1 will receive additional support and will be assessed again at the end of Year 2.