Phonics and Reading

At St Thomas More VC Academy we use a systematic approach to teaching phonics from the Bug Club DfE accredited scheme. This is taught in daily sessions across Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1.

An introduction to Bug Club for parents can be found here.

In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, the children are engaged in whole class guided reading sessions – which last for at least 30 minutes a day - designed to develop the key targets from the National Curriculum and content domains as assessed during the KS1 and KS2 Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs). This includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

The texts chosen in the Guided Reading long term plan provide a challenge for all members of the class for both reading and comprehension. Some texts are chosen to represent diversity.

During the afternoon, the teacher reads a shared class text. This is a session that is devoted to developing a love of story. Texts are age-appropriate, engaging and promote discussion.

Children take books home from school and this is monitored through electronic reading records provided via the 'Go Read/Boom Reader' application. Parent and teacher comments are shared. The books provided to children learning phonics contain words incorporating the sounds they have learnt.

Information for parents on Go Read/Boom Reader can be found here