Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Our children are given access to a wide range of reading materials to ignite their interest.
We aim for children to enjoy books and begin to become independent and confident readers. They are taught to recognise a range of familiar and common words as well as to apply their phonic knowledge when reading. Many other reading related activities are used to support children’s learning.
Children learn the difference between speaking and writing, and between print and pictures. They are given a range of opportunities to write for different purposes. They work with the teacher to develop and write down their ideas and learn to use their phonics knowledge. Children are also encouraged to practise their developing writing skills in play-based and child initiated situations provided across the curriculum.
Correct letter formation and orientation is taught as a discrete activity as well as using many other cross-curricular opportunities to develop fine and gross motor control.
PHONICS SHED:
At St Peter's, our systematic synthetic phonics programme provides a systematic way to teach reading through synthetic phonics. Children are taught to decode by breaking down words into sounds as a way to “synthesize” the whole word from letters and sounds. By using the sequences, children are taught, through techniques such as our ‘Say It, Stretch It, Sound It,’ to decode by breaking down words into sounds as a way to segment and blend (“synthesise“) the whole word with the learning reinforced by the offline and online multi-sensory tasks and games. Children learn how to hear, identify and write letter sounds as well as beginning to blend and segment sounds for reading and spelling.
