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At Upton Heath C of E Primary School we are passionate about ensuring all children become confident and enthusiastic readers and writers. As stated in the National Curriculum, a high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.
Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.
We believe that through learning the vital life skill of reading, children’s lives will be enriched and we are dedicated to enabling our children to become lifelong readers. We aim to achieve this through our “Quest Curriculum” and our expectation for all children to become fluent readers and writers. Phonics provides the foundations of fluent reading and writing.
Through phonics, children learn to segment words to support their spelling ability and blend sounds to read words. The teaching of phonics is of high priority and is emphasised as the key route in the early teaching of reading to beginner readers at the start of school. The phonics programme that we use, Anima Phonics, follows all aspects of the Synthetic Phonics Teaching Principles set out by the IFERI (International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction) and has been validated by the Department for Education.
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Reading and Phonics
At Upton Heath, we believe that reading is the key that unlocks the whole curriculum, and we are committed to ensuring that every child becomes a confident, fluent reader who develops a genuine love of books. In EYFS and Key Stage 1, children begin their reading journey using Animaphonics, our systematic synthetic phonics and early reading scheme. Animaphonics provides a structured and engaging approach to teaching phonics, giving children the secure foundations they need to decode words accurately and develop early reading fluency.
As children progress through Key Stage 1 and into Key Stage 2, they are introduced to a wide range of quality books and texts, chosen to broaden their vocabulary, deepen their comprehension and nurture a lifelong enjoyment of reading. Once children reach the appropriate level of reading fluency, they move onto Accelerated Reader, where books are carefully matched to each child's individual reading level. This ensures that children are consistently reading texts that challenge and engage them appropriately, while their progress is tracked robustly, allowing staff to identify and support children promptly should they need additional help.
By the time they leave Upton Heath, children will have developed not only the skills to read fluently and with understanding, but also a genuine enthusiasm for reading that will stay with them throughout their lives. We believe that our carefully sequenced approach to reading and phonics, combined with access to a rich and varied range of texts, gives every child the best possible start and prepares them well for the next stage of their education.