Earlham Primary School

Early Reading

We teach phonics for 30 minutes at 9am every day in Reception and Y1, based on the Read Write Inc. phonics programme. Children are taught in small groups so they can focus on their next step and the sounds they need to learn. We strengthen our phonics lessons with a focus on learning whole words, including irregular words such as the, I, of, said or you. The structure of our phonics lessons remains the same throughout Reception and Year 1, so as children move through the school, and change groups, the routine is familiar.

We encourage and support our parents and carers to work with their children on their sounds. In Reception parents are invited to come in to school for Family Fridays, where they join their child's phonics lesson, learn the sounds with them, and can then read with their child at home and support them to do their phonics homework. We support our children to learn to read and - just as importantly - to love reading and know why it is so important. But don't just take our word for this - here's what they say!

Talk for Reading and Writing

In Reception our pupils follow an Earlham Talk for Reading and Writing programme that introduces a high quality text each fortnight, supports pupils to understand and use new vocabulary, orally tell and innovate stories, read key vocabulary and shared writing, and then write their own sentences about their stories. We know that vocabulary and oral storytelling are key to developing literacy skills - only when a child can say it can they start to read and write. Through the daily retelling of a story our Reception pupils develop strong story telling skills, and we love watching them act out their stories in their play - they really enjoy it! 

High quality texts
This foundation is then developed as children progress through the school. Each year group is introduced to age-appropriate high quality texts, and we use a range of techniques to help them understand and be inspired by the language and writing techniques they encounter.

  Drama and role play

A key focus for the whole school is using drama in our teaching to support pupils to improve engagement, deepen understanding, explain new concepts and new vocabulary, embed language and address misconceptions. We know from our school teacher research that drama makes texts and information much more accessible to our EAL pupils.

The Serial Read

Teachers read aloud to their class every day. In Early Years these are picture books and poems. In Years 1 to 6 teachers choose chapter books, poems and non-fiction texts that they think the children will enjoy, and that will extend the children's vocabulary and understanding of literary genres, styles and of the wider world around them. Some of our serial reads this year have included The Hodge-Heg, Gangsta Granny, The Boy in the Tower, The Odyssey and a leaflet about Brexit!

Reading Recovery at Earlham

Reading Recovery is a well-established intervention scheme for children with reading difficulties. The programme provides daily half-hour sessions with specially trained Reading Recovery teachers. Reading Recovery is an intensive supplementary short-term literacy intervention. It provides one - to - one intensive support in reading and writing for children in Year 1.