Phonics & Spellings at Bishop Tufnell Primary School
We recognise the importance of teaching quality Phonics lessons.
At Bishop Tufnell CE Primary School, 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 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.
In Key Stage Two, children participate in a variety of interactive and creative spelling tasks. In these sessions, the children will focus on their weekly spellings, which are tested every Friday.
Please click here for our Phonics and Early Reading policy
Please click here for our spelling progression information
Reading at Bishop Tufnell Primary School
Early Reading at Bishop Tufnell Primary School
At Bishop Tufnell Primary school we have designed our early reading curriculum with the intent that all children, regardless of background, will become a fluent, insightful readers. We have developed a curriculum that will instill in all children a love of reading that we hope will stay with them for life. We understand that children who are confident adept readers will be empowered to succeed in all other areas. We understand that parents and carers play a vital role in the development of early reading and in nurturing positive habits and attitudes towards reading. We welcome this and their contribution.
We will deliver an early reading program that comprises of;
- Direct, focused phonics which is taught every day in Reception and Key Stage 1
- Phonics will be taught progressively from Foundation to Y2 as an effective way of developing children’s reading and spelling skills. Sight-recognition of words will complement the teaching of phonics.
- Children will read from books with the sounds they know, while they are learning to read
- Teachers and teaching assistants provide extra practice through the day for specific children
- All children in Year 3 and above can read age-appropriate books
Teachers instil in children a love of literature: the best stories and poems
Reading is fundamental to all learning and is a key life skill and consequently it plays an important part in all areas of our curriculum.Our teachers and staff develop children’s reading skills through a combination of one-to-one, guided and independent reading.
- Every classroom has a welcoming book corner which children are encouraged to use daily.
- Each Key Stage has a widely stocked library, which the children visit regularly.
- In Key Stage Two, we follow the Accelerated reader programme. After reading a book, children are encouraged to take a quiz on it on a class computer. This quiz will assess how well they have understood what they have read and suggest the next book they might like to read.
We encourage all children to read at home as much as possible.
Please click here for our reading progression information
Please click here for our reading leaflet for parents