Teaching Phonics at Cedarwood
Our approach to teaching phonics
In our school we have recently changed our chosen phonics scheme to the DfE accredited scheme Reading Planet Rocket Phonics.
Children are introduced to the letter sounds (phonemes) and the names of the written letters they belong to (grapheme) and taught to apply this knowledge to the skills of blending for reading and segmenting for writing. Stories, movement and songs about each sound help children to explore these in a multi-sensory approach, which supports deeper learning. In EYFS, children are introduced to two letter sounds each week and work on grapheme recognition, phoneme articulation and forming the associated written letter/s. In addition, they are introduced to two 'Tricky Words', also known as 'common exception words', which are high frequency words that do not follow the phonetic code, such as 'I', 'the' and 'what'. Teaching continues in Year 1 and Year 2 and into Year 3, as needed.
Please click this link to view the phonics progression document, which details the order sounds and words are taught.
Reading at Cedarwood
In EYFS and Key Stage 1 reading books, which reflect the children's current levels of phonemic knowledge, are read in school and taken home to practise and share with their families. Children also choose a storybook to have read to/with them by an adult at home. As children become more fluent in their reading skills they are introduced to the online reading platform Accelerated Reader, (usually at the beginning of Year 3) where their reading journey can be logged and there are opportunities to develop their vocabulary and comprehension skills in and outside of the school day.
Please click this link to view the Rocket Phonics Parent Guide.