The National Curriculum (2014) states that the programmes of study for reading at key stages 1 and 2 consist of two dimensions:
It is essential that teaching focuses on developing pupils’ competence in both dimensions; different kinds of teaching are needed for each.
Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Underpinning both is the understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words. This is why phonics is emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners (i.e. unskilled readers) when they start school. See our phonics section below for more information.
Good comprehension draws from linguistic knowledge (in particular of vocabulary and grammar) and on knowledge of the world. Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction.
All pupils must be encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum.
Reading widely and often increases pupils’ vocabulary because they encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech. Reading also feeds pupils’ imagination and opens up a treasure-house of wonder and joy for curious young minds.
Below are some documents containing questions you should aim to use whilst reading with your child to develop their comprehension. Please click on the links below to view.
Reading Comprehension Objectives and Questions – Year 1
Reading Comprehension Objectives and Questions – Year 2
Reading Comprehension Objectives and Questions – Year 3-4
Reading Comprehension Objectives and Questions – Year 5-6
The following videos will give some ideas of how and when to read regularly with your child. We hope it helps you and it supports your child’s love for reading!!
Please click on the picture below to download a copy of the Reading Vipers, these will help improve your child’s reading skills.
Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully. They are taught how to:
Children can then use this knowledge to ‘decode’ new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.
A high level phonics programme also provides guidance on teaching words that cannot be phonetically decoded; these are known as tricky words or common exception words.
There are 44 phonemes, represented by 26 letters in a range of different combinations.
At the Gurukula, we follow ‘Twinkl Phonics’ which is a DfE validated full systematic, synthetic phonics programme that contains everything we need to deliver phonics teaching to children from the very beginning of learning to read and write to full fluency. Twinkl Phonics is a scheme based on Letters and Sounds. It follows the same sounds order throughout Nursery and Reception and through the early weeks of Year 1. Teaching of Level 5 and 6 GPCs and suffixes have been spread out in Twinkl Phonics to give more even coverage throughout Year 1 and 2.
We teach phonics through a well-structured program (Twinkl DFE phonics) to ensure every child learns effectively. Our goal is to make phonics fun and accessible to all children.
What we aim to do:
Research shows that when phonics is taught in a structured way – starting with the easiest sounds and progressing through to the most complex – it is the most effective way of teaching young children to read. It is particularly helpful for children aged 5 to 7.
Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They can then go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and to read for enjoyment.
Children who have been taught phonics also tend to read more accurately than those taught using other methods, such as ‘look and say’. This includes children who find learning to read difficult, for example those who have dyslexia.
There are many way to support your child at home. Please see below a glossary to help further help your understanding of Phonics and of the key vocabulary.
Key Vocabulary / Glossary
Phonemes: A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound
Graphemes: The grapheme is the letter used to represent the sound
Digraph: two letters used to make one sound (e.g. ch/ sh/ th)
Trigraph: three letters used to make one sound (e.g. igh/ ure/ air)
Split Digraph: A digraph in which the two letters are not adjacent (e.g. make/ bone/ like)
Vowel Digraph: A digraph that uses two vowels to make one sound (e.g. oo/ ai/ ee)
Consonant Diagraph: A digraph that contains two consonants (e.g. ck/ sh/ ch)
CVC: Consonant Vowel Consonant (c-a-t/ sh-ee-p)
Blending: Combining sounds together to read the word
Segmenting: Breaking up the sounds in a word to help spell the word
Homographs: Words that have the same spelling but differ in meaning and pronunciation, for example, a row of chairs or a row like an argument
Homophones: Words with common pronunciations but different spellings, for example, to / two / too or there / their
Syllable: One or more letters representing a unit of spoken language consisting of a single uninterrupted sound
Polysyllabic word: A word containing more than one syllable
Adjacent Consonant: Two consonants next to each other in a word, for example, trip or bend. These used to be known as ‘blends’ but must not be now. They need to be taught as separate sounds.
Please click on the links below to download documents which contain essential information and resources that will help you support your child in the development of their phonics, reading and writing:
Level 2 Resources
Level 3 Resources
Level 4 Resources
Level 5 Resources
Level 6 Resources
Click on the picture to take you to a fantastic website called Phonics Play which contains some free phonics games which you can use to help support and consolidate your child’s phonics knowledge.
Level 2 Twinkl Phonics Sounds and actions.
Level 3 Twinkl Phonics Sounds and actions.
Level 5 Twinkl Phonics Sounds and actions.
Demonstrates use of sound buttons, which is what we use in school, to support the children in their learning
How to read words by blending individual sounds together.
Demonstrates use of sound buttons, which is what we use in school, to support the children in their learning
The phonics screening check is taken individually by all children in Year 1 in England. It is designed to give teachers and parents’ information on how your child is progressing in phonics. It will help to identify whether your child needs additional support at this stage so that they do not fall behind in this vital early reading skill.
There are two sections in this 40-word check and it assesses phonics skills and knowledge learned through Reception and Year 1. Your child will read up to four words per page for their teacher and they will probably do the check in one sitting of about 5-10 minutes. It is a school-based check to make sure that your child receives any additional support promptly, should they need it. It is not a stressful situation as the teacher will be well-equipped to listen and understand your child’s level of skills.
It checks that your child can:
The pseudo words will be shown to your child with a picture of a monster and they will be asked to tell their teacher what sort of monster it is by reading the word. This not only makes the check a bit more fun, but provides the children with a context for the nonsense word which is independent from any existing vocabulary they may have. Crucially, it does not provide any clues, so your child just has to be able to decode it. Children generally find nonsense amusing so they will probably enjoy reading these words.
The school will report your child’s results to you by the end of the summer term as well as to the local authority.
What should I do if my child is struggling to decode a word?
