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Phonics
At Westbourne, we provide high quality Phonics teaching through the Twinkl Phonics programme and the Rhino Readers Reading scheme.
At Westbourne School, Phonics is taught daily across Reception and Key Stage 1. Our approach integrates visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic stimuli to enhance pupils' engagement with reading and writing activities. Pupils are introduced to Kit and Sam, alongside the Twinkl Phonics family, helping them to transition from beginner readers and writers to confident, skilled, and enthusiastic learners.
Phonics teaching is structured across six levels, with pupils working through these stages while developing four core skills:
- Rapid recall of Grapheme-Phoneme Correspondence (GPCs)
- Rapid recall of tricky/common exception words
- Efficient blending skills
- Efficient segmenting skills
Each phonics lesson follows a consistent five-part structure to ensure these core skills are developed:
- Revisit & Review: Children review previously taught GPCs and tricky/common exception words.
- Teach: New GPCs, spelling patterns, and tricky/common exception words are introduced.
- Practice: Children blend and segment words using the new GPCs and spelling patterns.
- Apply: Pupils read or write a caption or sentence using the newly taught GPCs, spelling patterns, and tricky/common exception words.
- Assess: Adults assess pupils’ learning against set criteria.
In addition to daily phonics lessons, pupils complete a workbook to consolidate their learning and engage in independent activities.
Pupils progress through the phonics programme at varying rates, with each child working at the level appropriate for them. At Westbourne, pupils are grouped according to their current phonics level, identified through regular half-termly assessments. For pupils who face challenges with phonics, structured interventions are provided to give additional support. These interventions are also used for Key Stage 2 pupils who need to continue consolidating their phonics knowledge.
Pupils are provided with decodable Rhino Readers books, fully aligned with the Twinkl Phonics programme. These books allow pupils to feel successful each time they read, as they only contain letter sounds the pupils have already learned. Pupils will also bring home a weekly minibook featuring the week’s focus sounds for practice with blending and tricky/common exception words.
Each pupil has an individual reading diary to track their reading progress both at home and at school. Every child in Reception and Key Stage 1 reads one-on-one with an adult at school twice a week
Children will bring home a weekly spelling bookmark containing 8 focus sound words and 2 tricky/common exception words. Weekly spelling tests help children apply the letter sounds and spelling patterns they have learned in their writing.
At the start of each academic year, pupils are given a phonics home learning pack containing supporting resources to ensure consistency in phonics techniques and language used both at school and at home. Each week, parents will receive an information sheet outlining the sounds and spelling patterns being taught, along with the correct pronunciation. Each sound comes with a corresponding action and mnemonic to help children remember them. Parents are encouraged to model the same pure sounds and actions at home to support their child's learning.
Introduction to Phonics for Parents – An annual session held in the Autumn Term to inform parents about how phonics is taught in school and how they can support their child's learning at home.
