In 2022, Belle Vue began using 'Ready Steady Phonics' - a new scheme by Literacy Counts. We have been working alongside Literacy Counts for a number or years, most notably with our Shared Reading Curriculum. 

Our aim is to provide engaging phonics teaching and learning that is comprehensive and cohesive which ensures progression, and that all children acquire the phonic skills they need to be able to read and spell proficiently. We believe in an inclusive approach were every child participates in whole class learning and additional support is given timely to ensure children ‘keep up’.

We know phonics ability impacts on the future outcomes for reading and spelling, and some children, for a wide variety of reasons, find the acquisition of phonic skills more demanding than others. These children’s skill acquisition is closely monitored and interventions are implemented. 

How do we teach phonics in Belle Vue?

Phonics is taught daily for 30 mins using the Ready Steady Phonics teaching and learning programme that follows the ‘Letters and Sounds’ phases from Reception to the beginning of Year 2. Ready Steady Go intervention programme is used throughout school for any children who may need additional teaching and learning.

The scheme incorporates teaching and learning grapheme phoneme correspondence and then the application of acquired sounds in reading and spelling at word and sentence level. Fully decodable reading books accompany the sequence of learning and the children read these several times in school and then are available for additional practise at home.

Assessment is fully integrated into the programme during our daily teaching and learning with formative assessment taking place every lesson and summative assessment every six weeks. These are acted upon by the provision of Ready Steady Go interventions.

Progression across Reception and KS1

Pupils in Reception and KS1 will learn phonics in the following sequence:

If phonics only for pupils in Reception and KS1?

Being able to decode words is the cornerstone of the ability to read. Whilst many pupils master these sounds by the time they leave KS1, it is important that these skills are still reinforced. All our teachers and teaching assistants are trained in phonics teaching and these principles are embedded in classroom practice. 

Where pupils have not mastered these skills in KS1, they will receive regular interventions through the Ready Steady Go programme. 

A document detailing our wider approach to teaching reading and phonics can be found below: