Phonics

At Pear Tree Infant school our children have daily phonics lessons to support early reading skills. Over the pandemic children have sadly suffered gaps in their learning due to school closures, we are working hard to address these gaps for your child.

Year one children are due to take part in a department of education phonics screening check in June 2022 to confirm that they are at an age-appropriate standard in early reading. The teachers and support staff work extremely hard to ensure that all children are prepared for this screening check.

What is the phonics screening check?

It is a short, statutory assessment to ensure that children are making progress in the phonics skills to read words and are on track to become fluent readers who can enjoy reading for pleasure and for learning. Please have a look at the below video which explains what happens in the check.

Who will carry out the screening check with my child?

Your child’s class teacher will carry out the check with your child in June. Senior leaders, teachers and support staff give your child experience of the check material regularly.

What can you do to help your child at home?

You can help your child prepare for their Phonics Screening Check by going over the phonics they've learned using the phonics mats we have provided you with. You can read new books and stories with them.

What happens if my child needs extra support?

Your child’s class teacher continually monitors the progress your child is making in early reading. If your child needs extra support, targeted teaching is delivered across the school day. Your child may also be invited to stay for an after-school phonics club. We may invite you into school to take part in a parents phonics workshop to help you to support your child with reading at home.

We value you as partners in the education of your child and request that you view this phonics page on the school website to learn more about the way in which your child learns how to read.

Should you have any question about reading and the phonics check please do not hesitate to contact me your child's class teacher or Mrs Suddhi, Head Teacher.

How we teach phonics at Pear Tree Infant and Walbrook Nursery School

At Pear Tree Infant and Walbrook Nursery Schools, we take pride in facilitating all groups of children with enriched early reading opportunities. At the Infant setting we deliver quality first teaching and learning of early reading through the validated systematic synthetic phonics teaching programme, Essential Letters and Sounds.

We provide children with reading books containing decodable and common exception words which allow them to Independently use their phonic skills and knowledge. Teachers ensure that children have reading books matched to the sequence of sounds they are currently learning.

Phonics Reading Schemes

To allow children a range of reading texts we offer books from the following phonics reading schemes.