At Krishna Avanti Primary School, reading lies at the heart of the curriculum, and we believe reading underpins success across all aspects of the curriculum. It is our intention to create confident, fluent, and lifelong readers that not only read for pleasure but also possess strong oracy and vocabulary skills. Through developing oracy and book talk alongside the basic skills of decoding, children’s ability to learn new language effectively develops alongside their reading attainment. Through accessing carefully selected rich texts that are both read and read aloud our children have multiple exposures to vocabulary and second and third tier words. Fluency, comprehension, and pleasure are the core values in our approach to developing successful readers. As a result, we create lifelong learners who will take their love of reading to the next stage of their education.

At Krishna Avanti Primary School we believe in a holistic approach to the teaching of English. Our vision is to provide children with opportunities to develop their passion and skillset for reading, writing and oracy in a cohesive way. Our English curriculum is carefully planned so that children become confident and creative communicators, who will be able to use these skills effectively in the future. We teach English so that children have the tools to express themselves confidently and clearly in the diverse world in which they live. Writing is embedded through our English lessons and across our wider curriculum. A core text is carefully selected to give children access to a range of texts which will expose them to rich vocabulary. Each learning journey is carefully planned to enable children to be immersed into their text, analyse, and generate ideas, which leads to the children composing a piece of writing. Within the learning journey, opportunities for reflection are woven throughout.

At KAPSH, our children’s phonics journey starts in Nursery till Year 2, with the belief that Phonics provides children with vital foundations to become a fluent reader. We use Twinkl Phonics as our Systematic, Synthetic Phonics Program (SSP). It is high quality and robust in its purpose, with a clear, structured progression through the programme, allowing all our children to meet or exceed the expected standard. The Twinkl Phonics approach is rigorous, multisensory, and inclusive, also making learning more accessible and enjoyable for learners with SEND.

The multi-sensory approach includes:

• Engaging activities focused on developing and applying reading and writing skills.
• Mnemonics, actions, handwriting formation rhymes and songs to reinforce sound and letter recognition.
• Active repetition to ensure rapid recall of GPCs, common exceptions words.

Stories are used to provide a stimulus and context to enhance phonics teaching during lessons. Children can join in with the adventures of Kit, Sam, and the Twinkl Phonics family, while they receive the vital building blocks they need to read and write. During lessons, children repeat the elements from the four cornerstones of phonics, to ensure that they have rapid and automatic recall of GPCs and tricky or common exception words. The children have daily opportunities to experience blending and segmenting activities to ensure regular practise of these core skills.

Twinkl Phonics lesson are also supported by weekly decodable books, where the children can apply the skills, they have learnt in their phonics lessons. At KAPSH we offer our children a variety of decodable books with various genres from the Word Sparks Collection and Project X Hero Academy range. These decodable books are matched to the children’s phonics phases. In conjunction with the teaching of phonics, to consolidate children’s phonics skills, we provide a variety of phonics-based activities, appropriate to individuals levels, to support children at home.

At KAPSH regular assessment is a key part of phonics teaching to ensure that teaching is effective, and all children are making the expected progress. It is also a key part of the early identification of gaps in children’s phonics learning, to ensure a keep up rather than catch up culture. We conduct half-termly formal assessments to ensure that children’s progress can be effectively monitored. For children who have already been identified as working below expectations, we put in place effective interventions, either 1:1 or in a small group,  suitable for the level at which they are working. This supports to close the gaps and ensure all children make progress.

Throughout the children’s journey through EYFS and KS1, we work in partnership with parents to provide phonics support and guidance when working with their children at home. We offer ‘Phonics Stay and Play’ and ‘Come Read with Me’ sessions throughout the year, where parents are invited to watch teachers deliver a Twinkl phonics lesson and observe the follow up provision and independent activities. We also support parents 1:1, modelling fun and engaging activities that they can do at home to best support their child at the level they are at. Furthermore, we offer practical workshops throughout the year, supporting parents with their subject knowledge when thinking about the terminology used in phonics lessons.