Mrs Bland's Infant and Nursery

PHONICS AND READING

Phonics - EYFS and Key Stage 1

image of a biplane The school follows A Flying Start with Letters & Sounds which is validated by the Department of Education and is based on the Letters & Sounds programme. A Flying Start with Letters & Sounds is a multi-sensory, systematic, synthetic phonics programme and enables the children to:

Develop good language skills and a wide vocabulary

Foster a love of reading

Acquire the skills to read independently as indicated by the phonic check

Secure the physical skills to write in order to successfully record the graphemes they have learnt

A Flying Start with Letters & Sounds recognises the importance of phase 1 and its role in working alongside the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This begins in Nursery and continues into Reception. The programme enables children to start learning letter sounds early in Reception, and provides a structured route for children to meet the expected standard in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check.

Early reading is taught using synthetic phonics as the main approach to reading. Pupils are systematically taught the phonemes (sounds), how to blend the sounds all through the word for reading, and how to segment the sounds in order to write words. They are taught to use their phonic skills and knowledge as their first approach to reading, but are also taught high frequency words which do not completely follow the phonic rules.

Children in Year 1 are expected to complete the Phonic Screening Check in June. The check involves reading a combination of forty pseudo and real words. The purpose of the check is to identify children who are able to segment and blend words at the expected level. Any children who do not reach the required standard will retake the check in Year 2 having had a targeted input throughout the year.

Master Readers - Year 2

Mastery Education, Master Readers

Master Readers is a reading approach which follows on from the children completing the Flying Start with Letters and Sounds phonics programme. Children in Year 2 have a dedicated half hour of Shared Reading at the start of each day. Books have been chosen to complement the topics children are studying and may also link to the genre they are learning about in English lessons.

Please see the attachments below for further information about the progression of Master Readers.

You can view/download our Master Readers Book Progression chart

You can view/download information on Progression in Master Readers here

Reading

Our aim is to encourage and develop a lifelong love of books and reading in our young learners. Reading is an enjoyable and enriching activity which we want our children to embrace. We wish to work in partnership with parents to ensure all of our children have the best possible start to reading.

A child’s journey to become a reader starts with them listening and sharing books. This is an invaluable way of showing that books are there to be enjoyed, as well as developing the children’s vocabulary. Through sharing books parents are modelling the reading process and showing children enjoyment and learning that can be found from reading.

As a school, we have a wide range of decodable books included within our reading scheme. These books fully align with the phonics programme, enabling the children to apply what they have been taught with increased confidence and success. Once the children have completed the Phonics programme, we have a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books on offer to further develop the children’s fluency in reading.

From Reception, pupils have a weekly school library visit and continue to take home books for sharing with their parents alongside their own reading book.

image of school library area image of children reading in library area

Reading for Pleasure

A solid foundation in reading is crucial to a child’s success as they progress through their educational journey. Reading is a skill we continue to develop throughout our lives, but starting this process as early as possible has significant benefits for our continued success as readers.

The teaching of reading and reading comprehension within the classroom is only part of a child's learning, and the value that is given to reading at home is equally important. Reading widely at both home and school helps to develop a child’s vocabulary, which in turn will make them become more confident, fluent readers.

At Mrs Bland's we are passionate about reading. We love listening to stories which take us to faraway and magical places, we love to talk about different types of books with our teachers and our friends and we love reading books at home and at school!

All of the adults in school are always looking out for us to shine in any reading activity we do, or take part in, so they can give out reading stars to reward our hard work. Two of these stars then get chosen each week to visit the Reading Vending Machine, which has within it new and exciting books which we are lucky enough to take home and keep!

image of book vending machine image of pupil holding book image of pupil using book vending machine image of young boy using book vending machine

We also have our special reading caravan which is a lovely calm and cosy place for the children to enjoy reading a book of their choice. It is a quiet space where the children can read on their own or share a book with a friend.

image of reading caravan in school grounds reading caravan interior with pupils reading

Author of the Term

Book corner Notice board Author of the Term notice board

Each half-term, a different author is celebrated in each of the year groups across school. Books from the chosen author are read for the children to enjoy during the end of day story time. To further enhance this, we share the authors with parents and encourage the children to read a book at home from the author that is being focussed upon for that half-term.

The authors we will be celebrating in each year group are…

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Summer 2

Nursery

Atinuke

^{Anna Hibiscus' Song}

^{B is for Baby}

^{Baby Goes to Market}

^{Double Trouble for Anna Hisbiscus}

^{Hugo

Splash, Anna Hibiscus!}

Helen Nicoll

^{Meg and Mog Series}

Mike Inkpen

^{The Blue Balloon}

^{Wibbly Pig's Silly Big Bear}

^{Hide Me Kipper}

^{In Wibbly’s Garden}

^{Kipper’s A to Z}

^{Kipper’s Birthday}

Jez Alborough

^Tall

Hug

^Play

^{Duck in the Truck}

^{Super Duck}

^{Some Dogs Do}

^{My Friend Bear}

Michael Rosen

^Owww!

^{Wiggly Wiggly Playtime Rhymes}

^{Little Rabbit Foo Foo}

^{Tiny Little Fly}

^{Bear Flies High}

^Snore!

Nick Butterworth

^{Percy the Park Keeper Books}

Reception

Jill Murphy

^{Peace at Last}

^{The Large Family Books}

Joseph Coelho
^{Luna Loves Library Day}

^{Luna Loves Art}

^{The Hairdo that Got Away}

^{If All the World Were…}

^{No Longer Alone}

^{Thank You}

Allan Ahlberg

^{Each Peach Pear Plum}

^{The Jolly Postman}

^Funnybones

^{Dinosaurs Dreams}

^Goldilocks

^{Cops and Robbers}

Beatrix Potter

^{The Tale of Peter Rabbit}

^{The Tale of Benjamin Bunny}

^{The Tale of Tom Kitten}

^{The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck}

Michael Rosen

^{Mad in the Back}

^Blue

^{Bob the Bursting Bear}

^Wolfman

^{Evan my Ears are smiling}

^{Michael Rosen's Books of Nonsense}

^{This is Our House}

Julia Donaldson

^{Zog and the Flying Doctors}

^Spinderella

^{The Highway Rat}

^{The Smeds and the Smoos}

^{The Paper Dolls}

^{The Cook and the King}

Year 1

Judith Kerr

^{Katinka's Tail}

^{The Tales of Mog the Forgetful Cat}

^{The Curse of the School Rabbit}

^{The Crocodile Under the Bed}

Oliver Jeffers

^{The Day the Crayons Quit}

^{The Day the Crayons Came Home}

^{Up and Down}

^{How to Catch a Star}

^{Lost and Found}

^{The Way Back Home}

Atinuke

^{Anna Hisbiscus chapter books}

Dr Seuss

^{The Cat in the Hat}

^{One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish}

^{Green Eggs and Ham}

^{Hop on Pop}

^{Fox in Socks}

Michael Rosen

^{Hampstead the Hamster}

^{Clever Cakes}

^{Chocolate Cake}

^{Barking for Bagels}

^{Choosing Crumble}

^{Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy}

Michael Bond

^{A Bear Called Paddington}

^{Paddington Goes for Gold}

^{Paddington's Post}

^{Paddington's London Treasury}

^{Paddington in the Garden}

Year 2

Jamila Gavin

^{Grandpa Chatterji}

^{Grandpa Chatterji's Third Eye}

^{Grandpa’s Indian Summer}

Dick King-Smith

^{The Hodgeheg}

^{The Queen’s Nose}

^{The Sheep-Pig}

^{All Because of Jackson}

Roald Dahl

^{The Twits}

^{The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me}

^{Danny the Champion of the World}

^{The Magic Finger}

Enid Blyton:

^{The Magic Faraway Tree}

^{The Enchanted Woods}

^{The Adventures of the Wishing Chair}

Michael Rosen

^{Fluff the Farting Fish}

^{Don’t Forget Tiggs!}

^{Jelly Boots, Smelly Boots}

^{Uncle Gobb and the Dread Shed}

^{Michael Rosen's Book of Very Silly Poems}

David Walliams

^{Little Monsters}

^Blob

^Slime

^{The World’s Worst Parents}

Recommended Reads

At Mrs Bland’s Infant and Nursery School we want to encourage all of our children to foster a love of reading. Below you will find links to various sites that will provide you with ideas of books to read:

Recommended Reads for Reception

https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks1-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-reception-pupils-eyfs-age-4-5/

Recommended Reads for Year 1

https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks1-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-year-1-pupils-ks1-age-5-6/

Recommended Reads for Year 2

https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks1-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-year-2-pupils-ks1-age-6-7/

Useful Links

We make a lot of use of online reading and phonics activities in school, why not try some of them out and let us know what you think…?

Reading Rockets
Contains lots of useful information and tips to help you read with your child.

Crickweb Literacy
Educational games and activities. Help your child with, spelling, reading, alphabetical order and grammar with these English learning games.

Oxford Owl Reading
Free online books with games and activities that can be used at home.

Phonics Play
Visit this website to access phonic game and activities to support reading and spelling skills.

Book Trust
Discover a world of stories and get inside information on how books are created. Lots of activity ideas to share with the family.

Alphablocks
Watch the videos to explore different letters and sounds in a fun way.

ICT games
Has a great selection of games that link well with games in Letters and Sounds.

Phonics & Reading

PHONICS AND READING

Phonics - EYFS and Key Stage 1

Master Readers - Year 2

Reading

Reading for Pleasure

Author of the Term

Recommended Reads for Year 1

Recommended Reads for Year 2

Useful Links

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