Phonics

At Cheam Common Infants’ reading is the golden thread that weaves through our curriculum. This shows the importance and value of learning to read through stimulating and diverse texts that are linked to our Wider Curriculum.  These texts allow pupils to meaningfully engage, share preferences, make personal connections and ask questions. We are committed to providing opportunities for all pupils to gain an enjoyment of reading and achieve the key early reading and comprehension skills needed to become a proficient reader and to ensure that these skills are transferred to all aspects of life and learning. We endeavour to ensure that our pupils develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards reading that will stay with them forever.

We use the Read, Write Inc. scheme to teach phonics from Nursery.  Our children consolidate and apply their phonics knowledge at home through reading a range of books. These include books that closely match their phonics ability and link to the phonics taught during the week and library books to share with their families and develop[ the love of reading.  Children are encouraged to read and re-read a text to revisit, practise and apply new and known sounds and to develop their reading fluency. They also have access to electronic books which are matched to their phonics ability.  These texts allow pupils to meaningfully engage, share preferences, make personal connections and ask questions.

Pupils have frequent, regular and sustained opportunities to read and to talk together about the books that they are reading individually, in small groups and as a whole class. This helps the pupils to reach a shared understanding and build on their cultural literacy. We plan opportunities for all pupils to extend their vocabulary through a range of genres and subject related texts to consolidate their understanding. Through our own LEO Whole Class Reading lessons in KS1, pupils explore a range of texts in more detail to develop their comprehension. They are taught a range of different reading skills such as retrieval, inference and prediction and practise applying those skills to a range of texts throughout the year. We recognise the importance that rhythm and rhyme have in the development of pupils’ early literacy skills. From Nursery to Year 2 the pupils have opportunities to explore, learn and perform poems on a weekly basis. 

CCI Read Aloud Map       LEO Reading Progression Map  

Whole Class Reading Overviews

Year 1    Year 2