Phonics
Phonics Curriculum Intent
At Kaizen we do not prescribe to one method of teaching Phonics. We use the Letters and Sounds approach, supported by LCP planning, to ensure sounds are taught progressively in the correct order. We believe that children learn best by teachers delivering a range of different approaches and interacting with a variety of high quality resources, for example songs from Jolly Phonics or mnemonic cards from Ruth Miskin.
How is Phonics taught?
In Nursery phonics is taught daily. The focus is on developing phase 1 aspects, for example, developing speaking, and listening and attention skills. These activities are planned for during small group time, as well as unplanned moments within the provision. In the provision there are enhancements to support the children to develop their identifying and listening skills.
In Reception and Year 1 phonics is taught daily for 30 minutes. Children are grouped by ability and taught by members of the Early Education team. These groups are monitored (by the team and the phonics lead) and kept fluid, to ensure that children are in the correct groups that best suit their needs. We follow the below sequence when teaching a phonics session.
Sounds in phase 2 and these are built upon across the year. Children learn to segment and blend letter sounds, beginning to automatically recall decodable and some high frequency tricky words.
At the start of the Year 1, the first four weeks are consolidating phase 2 and 3 sounds, before moving onto the next phase. During the summer term, Year 1 children sit the Phonics Screening Test. The test is made up of a combination of 40 real and pseudo (fake) words, which children are required to read.
Phonics Progression Overview
The Phonics Lead is Mrs Walker. She oversees the quality of phonics teaching, children’s progress and attainment.