Reading & Spoken Language

Early Reading & Phonics

In September 2021, we adopted the Bug Club Phonics Programme. This resource enables the school to deliver systematic synthetic phonics and provides everything needed to help children succeed in early reading. It combines an online reading world with eBooks, interactive assessment games and teaching resources

All staff in EYFS and KS1 have received extensive training and support using this resource to maximise progress and develop confident readers and writers.  Bug Club Phonics sets out a detailed and systematic programme for teaching phonic skills for children starting by the age of five, with the aim of them becoming fluent readers by age seven.

The sequence of teaching can be found below.

The children are taught to understand the alphabetic code and that the letters represent sounds. The children are taught 44 phonemes and the pronunciation of these can be found here:

Reading at Home

Children in EYFS and Year 1 take home a phonetically decodable books matched to their phonic ability and stage they are at within the Bug Club Phonics sequence. Continuity is ensured by the progression and each child works at an individual pace. Parents are encouraged to support reading at home and children are expected to read daily. 

Alongside this, we use the  Oxford Owl for School and Home reading platform so children can access additional reading books at home and in school. Each child in school is provided with a log in in the home school diary.

Children are also encouraged to take books home from the school library which can be enjoyed and shared together with an adult. 

Key Vocabulary

Blend – saying the individual sounds that make up a word and then merging or blending the sounds together to say a word.

Digraph – two letters which together make one sound. Eg: ee, oa, ea, ch, ay.

Grapheme – written letters or a group of letters which represent one single sound (phoneme). Eg. a, l, sh, air, ck.

Phoneme – a single sound that can be made by one or more letters. Eg: s, k, z, oo, ph, igh.

Phonics – phonics teaches children to listen to and identify the sounds that make up words. This helps them to read and write words.

Segment – this is the opposite of blending. Splitting a word up into individual sounds.

For further information on phonics and early reading please contact:

 Miss C Hughes at c.hughes@stmarysbeverley.eriding.net

Bug Club