Learning to Read

 Learning to Read

The Reception Year is a crucial time for your child in their journey to becoming a reader. At Ivy Chimneys, we follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Programme throughout EYFS and KS1, which is a systematic synthetic phonics teaching programme approved by the DfE. 

What is Phonics?

Phonics is the way we teach children to read quickly and skilfully. 

They are taught how to: 

• recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes; 

• identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make - such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’; and

 • blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word. 

Children can then use this knowledge to ‘de-code’ new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.

In EYFS, your child will have daily phonics lessons and group reading sessions twice a week to teach and practise their reading skills. We send home a reading book and a phonics homework sheet once a week to support and consolidate learning in school at home.

During the Autumn term we hold a phonics session for parents to explain this in more detail, which includes the opportunity to watch one of our phonic lessons live.