Implementation

At The Ridge we use the Sounds-Write approach for the teaching of phonics. Sounds-Write begins with the sounds of the English language and teaches children the matching spelling correspondences. Through the Sounds-Write approach, children master the skills of segmenting, blending and manipulating sounds in order to read and spell. They also learn the alphabetic code knowledge needed in order to read accurately and fluently, as well as the key concepts about the alphabetic code. These concepts are:

  1. letters are symbols that represent sounds.
  2. sounds can be spelled using 1, 2, 3 or 4 letters.
  3. the same sound can be spelled in different ways.
  4. the same spelling can represent different sounds.

 

Children are also taught the following skills:

  • Segmenting
  • Blending
  • Phoneme Manipulation

What is taught?

In Reception, children learn the Initial Code and practice the three skills. They also become secure in their understanding of concept 1 and are introduced to concept 2. The Initial Code focuses upon the 1:1 sound-spelling correspondences. By learning these, children are able to decode (read) and encode (spell) a range of words and sentences. Towards the end of the initial code, children explore concept 2 further - two letters representing 1 sound, e.g. sh, ll, ss. Sounds-Write lessons are structured so that children revisit and review learning. For this reason, when children acquire new code knowledge, they are able to assimilate it as they have strong conceptual understanding and a good grasp of the three core skills. Furthermore, it also helps them to develop confidence and trust in the code and see that it is reversible process.

Once children have mastered the Initial Code, they will continue to practice the three key skills and start learning the Extended Code. The Extended Code teaches concepts 2, 3 and 4. Children will read and write monosyllabic and polysyllabic words at an age appropriate level. The sounds and spellings are presented in an order which allows pupils to read the greatest number of words as early as possible. Some sounds are visited twice at differing levels of difficulty. In Year 1, children cover 'First Spellings' whilst in Year 2 they learn 'More Spellings'. First Spellings provides children with a limited number of spellings for a sound whilst More Spellings revisits sounds and provides a more complete list of spellings that children are likely to encounter in their reading.

Learning the Extended Code is a life-long process. However, once children are secure with the key concepts and have mastered the key skills, if they come across an unfamiliar sound-spelling correspondence, they have a secure understanding of how the code works to add new information to their existing knowledge (schema).

The Sounds-Write process supports our writing approach as it focuses on encoding. In Sounds-Write there is no delay between decoding and encoding, as soon as children have a go at reading at word then they write it. In lessons where children are writing a word which contains sound-spellings not yet taught, teachers will use it as an incidental teaching opportunity. In all classes, children have an alphabetic code chart which contains the most common sound-spelling correspondences.

To find out more about how to support reading at home, we strongly encourage parents to access the free Sounds-Write online course https://www.udemy.com/user/54e5c34e6b89b/ 

How is it taught?

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have a daily 30-minute phonics session. Children are taught as a whole class. The Ridge has a mastery approach to the teaching of reading; all children are scaffolded to ensure that they make the progress they are capable of, and, as a consequence, no ceiling is placed on any child's educational opportunities in reading.

In order for children to master the conceptual understanding, master the key skills and develop secure code knowledge, they need repeated exposure through the sensory (physical) manipulation of the age-appropriate material they are working with. Therefore, a typical Sounds-Write lesson will include 50% new learning, 40% revision and review of prior learning and 10% working on the mastery of the key skills. Lessons are multi-sensory in order to aid memory and assimilation of new information - it also helps concentration too! Sounds are taught in the context of whole words and lessons include sorting and grouping in categories as we know all of these things aid memory.

 

Reading Materials

Books will be linked to the children's learning in their Phonics lessons. However, the books that children will be bringing home will cover learning that children have already done - deliberately so! In Phonics lessons, children are having to learn the correspondences between the sounds of the English language and the spellings which represent them, as well as practising the skills of segmenting, blending and manipulating sounds. Furthermore, they are also learning that sounds can be represented by 1, 2, 3 or 4 letters, that the same sound can be spelled in more than one way and that a spelling can represent more than one sound! There is a lot of information to take on board! Therefore, reading a book containing this brand new learning is a challenge! Children will access challenging books but will do so in class under the guidance of their teacher. The home reader books will contain prior learning so that they can keep practising their reading skills and embedding their knowledge of the alphabetic code. This will help their reading to become automatic which in turn will develop their fluency and comprehension.

In Reception and at the start of Year 1, books will be decodeable. As children move through Year 1 and by the time they are in Year 2 and are more confident with the Extended Code, conceptual understanding and skills, they may bring back a word which contains sounds-spelling correspondences that have not yet been explicitly taught. These can be used as informal teaching opportunities.

Please note that in Reception and Year 1, books may contain 'high-frequency words' such as 'is' 'of' 'the' 'was' whose spellings (at this stage in their learning) are not immediately transparent to them. Therefore, the adult reader should take responsibility for reading these words. Introduce the words in the following way:

"This is 'of',"then immediately point in the right order, to the two spellings and saying the two sounds as you do so.

Parent Reading Workshops will be held in each term but please do always ask if you want help explaining a concept to your child - we know it can be tricky!

Books are routinely monitored by the class teacher. Please ensure that reading diaries are signed to say the book has been read.

 

Bridging Books

Once children are confident with the conceptual understanding, skills and alphabetic code, we send them home with a 'Bridging Book', this may be in addition to their decodeable book or instead of. Bridging Books help children to continue to apply their phonics knowledge and skills whilst also developing their reading stamina, developing their knowledge of different authors, exposing them to a range of texts and, ultimately, helping them take steps towards being independent, confidence readers who love it!

Eventually, as children become more proficient with their reading, they will no longer need phonics and bridging books.

You can find out more about Sounds-Write, including information for parents here: https://www.sounds-write.co.uk/page-84-downloads-links-for-parents-teachers.aspx 

 

SEND and Disadvantaged Pupils

Children who need extra support in Key Stage 1, and those identified in Key Stage 2, are monitored and carefully assessed. Timely and appropriate interventions are put in place with Sounds-Write trained members of staff. They are also heard read more frequently so that they get extra practice of the key skills, further exposure to the code and support to develop their conceptual understanding. 

The Reading Spine

Reading for pleasure has social benefits as well and can make people feel more connected to the wider community. Reading increases a person's understanding of their own identity, improves empathy and gives them an insight into the world view of others (The Reading Agency 2015).

 

 

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term 4

Term 5

Term 6

Kindergarten

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

 

Dear Zoo

Each Peach Pear Plum

 

Hug

Jasper’s Beanstalk

The Train Ride

 

Hairy Maclary

Come on, Daisy

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

We’re Going on a Bearhunt

 

Where’s Spot?

You Choose

Reception

Avocado Baby

Can’t you sleep little bear?

Cops and Robbers

 

Peace at Last

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

Farmer Duck

Handa’s Surprise

 

Mrs Armitage on Wheels

On the Way Home

Owl Babies

 

Rosie’s Walk

SHHHH!

Six Dinner Sid

The Gruffalo

Whatever Next!

Lost and Found

Mr Grumpy’s Outing

 

Elmer

Knuffle Bunny

 

Year 1

Dr Xargle’s Book of Earthlets

Emily Brown and the Thing

Pumpkin Soup

Meerkat Mail

The Elephant and the Baby

 

Rain Before Rainbows

Mrs Noah’s Pockets

On sudden Hill

 

The Queen’s Nose

The King who Banned the Dark

It’s a No Money Day

Mixed

 

Three Little Pigs RB

The Suitcase

The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me

Beegu

 

Piggy Handsome

Billy and the Beast

Clean Up

The True Story of the

There is no dragon in this story

 

No1 Car Spotter

Flat Stanley

The Worst Witch

 

Year 2

The Proudest Blue

The Animals Grimm

Willow Wildthing

The Barnabus Project

 

Paddington

Ellie and the Cat

Gorilla

Traction Man

 

A Necklace of Raindrops

Tales of Wisdom and Wonder

 

The Giving Tree

The Hodgeheg 2

The Flower

 

The Boy Who Grew Dragons RS RB

 

The Bookshop Girl RS

Look Up

Tuesday

 

Year 3

The Truth Pixie

 

The Wild Robot

 

Leon and the Place Between

 

Malamander

 

The Tale of Despereaux

The Iron Man RC

 

The Last Bear

Rumaysa

 

 

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

 

Year 4

The Legend of Podkin One Ear

 

The Explorer RC

 

Charlotte’s Web

 

Varjak Paw

 

The Guggenheim Mystery

 

By Ash, Oak and Thorn

 

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

 

Year 5

When the Sky Falls

 

Julia and the Shark

 

The Nowhere Emporium

 

Wolf Brother

 

A Kind of Spark

 

Tom’s Midnight Garden

 

Year 6

The Arrival

Orphans of the Tide

 

Fox Girl and the White Gazelle

 

The Skylarks’ War

 

Asha and the Spirit Bird

 

Skellig

 

Holes

 

The Ridge's Reading Spine underpins the reading and writing curriculum and includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry including nursery rhymes. The books on the reading spine are read aloud to children daily so that all children come together and experience an expert reader reading aloud a challenging text. The texts on the reading spine are the core books which we believe will help shape children as readers, writers and empathetic, thoughtful and curious citizens.

As part of the reading spine, children also listen to, and in some instances learn off by heart and perform, poems. The poems selected are poems that we feel all children should have heard and learned off by heart. Poetry develops children as readers and writers, offers whole texts in a manageable way, develops memory, text appreciation, higher-order thinking skills and is enjoyable!

Kindergarten

Twinkle Twinkle

Humpty Dumpty

Hickory Dickory Dock

Little Bo Peep

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Three Blind Mice

Old MacDonald

Pet-a-Cake

5 Little Speckled Frogs

5 current buns

1,2,3,4,5 Once I caught a fish alive

Hot Cross Buns

Mary Mary quite contrary

Tiny Tim Turtle

10 green bottles

10 in a bed

Tom Thumb

Sing a song of sixpence

Wind the Bobbin Up

Jack and Jill

Little Jack Horner

Grand Old Duke of York

Old Mother Hubbard

Yankee Doodle

Crooked Man

Little Miss Muffet

Polly put the kettle on

Wee Willy Winkle

Little Bo Peep

Queen of hearts

Incy Wincy Spider

The little piggy

Dr Foster

Owl and the Pussy Cat

Wheels on the bus

Hey diddle diddle

Here we go round the mulberry bush

Bobby Shafto's gone to sea.

Reception

One, two, buckle my shoe

Ten fat sausages

This old man

There was an old lady

Rub-a-dub-dub

Ring a ring o' roses

 

Children's choice - repeat favourites or rhymes they have done in Kindergarten.

The farmer's in his den

Pop goes the weasel!

Do you know the muffin man?

I'm a little teapot

If you're happy and you know it

I had a little monkey

Old King Cole

 

Children's choice - repeat favourites or rhymes they have done in Kindergarten.

The mouse the frog and the little red hen

Teddy bear

A sailor went to sea sea sea

Let's get the rhythm of the street

Bizzy Buzzy Bee

Hot Cross Buns

Miss Polly had a dolly

 

Children's choice - repeat favourites or rhymes they have done in Kindergarten.

Down in the Valley

Each peach pear plum

Little boy blue

Pease porridge

There was Princess Long Ago

Five Little Ducks

Happy Poem

 

Children's choice - repeat favourites or rhymes they have done in Kindergarten.

Peter Piper

Hush Little Baby

Lavender's Blue

London Bridge is falling down

The Queen of Hearts

Star Light, Star Bright

 

Children's choice - repeat favourites or rhymes they have done in Kindergarten.

Row, Row, Row your boat

The big ship sailed

Lucy Locket

Little Robin Redbreast

Ladybird, Ladybird

The cave

 

Children's choice - repeat favourites or rhymes they have done in Kindergarten.

Year 1

The key 215

Love me mum 221

Snowed in 245

Eddies and the Nappy 218

Mrs Sprockett's Strange Machine 126

Rickety Train Ride 127

Squeezes 220

A sailor went to sea sea sea 76

Three, Six, Nine 77

I'm Popyeye the Sailor Man 78

 

What I'd do for my best friend 168

These are the hands 173

Topsy turvy 176

The tortoise and the hare 204

The Engine Driver 127

Buzz Buzz 183

Eeny Meeny Miny Moe 67

 

A big surprise 155

Pies 158

Noises in the night 159

The Bee's Story 184

Kangaroos 209

I wannabe a wallaby 210

If you're happy and you know it 44

Rosy apple 22

I went to the animal fair 75

When Susie was a baby 43

 

"Quack!" said the Billy-goat 181

Noisy Garden 181

Don't be such a fusspot 222

Ice Lolly 253

Sea Shore 253

Soldier Soldier will you marry me? 56

On top of spaghetti 63

Dusty Bluebells 31

Lou, Lou, Skip to me Lou 32

The big ship sails on the alley, alley O 32

Show and Tell 233

The cupboard 157

Thirty days... 91

The mouse and the lion 206

Music of the Wind 243

The hokey cokey 34

Drunken sailor 35

How many miles to Babylon? 36

One Potato 67

Did you ever tell a lie? 70

Jamaican clap Rhyme 79

 

The morning rush *

Cats *

Song of the train *

The Bells of London 36

London Bridge is Falling down 37

Let's go to Kentucky 23

In and out the windows 30

 

 

Year 2

Today I'm not going to school

Crayon Poem

The Slithermonchowchuk

Dear Ugly Sisters

Harry the Hamster

If You Were a Carrot  Lost it, Found it

Growing Apples

 

Where do all the teacher go?

Box of Colours

Everything's better with you

Ten Dancing Dinosaurs

The Lion and Albert

Scissors

Good Morning, Mr Croco-doco-dile

Accident Prone

The Emergensea

Busy Beeing Lazy

The Monster Under Your Bed

My Newt

The Dinosaur Rap

The Seven Ages of a Leaf

On a Wild Wild Walk

Billy McBone

Sick

The Veggy Lion

Today is Very Boring

Life Doesn't Frighten Me

Instructions for Giants

Hands

Witch, Witch

The Trouble with my Brother

Whale

Brother

 

 

I Opened a Book

Please Mrs Butler

Rushing

Let's Hear it for the Teachers

In the Land of the Bumbley Boo

Take a Poem

 

Year 3

Quangle Wangle's hat

Wind on the Hill

 

Macavity the Mystery Cat

 

Life Doesn't Frighten Me

 

Adventure of Isabel

 

From a Railway Carriage

 

The Crocodile

 

Julia Donaldson

AA Milne

June Crebin

James Carter

A.F.Harold

Joshua Siegel

Celia Warren

Michaela Morgan

Clare Bevan or Marion Swinger

Year 4

Tyger Tyger

The Eagle

George

My Shadow

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Jumblies

 

Jabberwocky

Allan Ahlberg

John Foster

Michael Rosen

Liz Brownlee

Rachel Rooney

Brian Moses

Roger Stevens

Tony Mitton

Val Bloom

Joseph Coelho

Sue Dawson-Hardy

Year 5

The Door

If

 

The Witches' Spell

 

Extinct - Mandy Coe

 

Matilda who told lies

 

Rules by Brian Patten

 

The People Upstairs - Ogden Nash

Grace Nichols

Richard Edwards

Sue Cowling

Benjamin Zephaniah

Brian Pattn

Charles Causley

David Harmer

Jan Dean

William Blake

Lyndsey Mcrae

Year 6

Caged Bird

 

The Raven

 

Spider and the fly

 

The Highway Man

 

The Listeners

 

Charge of the Light Brigade

 

Pie Corbett

Judith Nichols

John Walsh

Karl Nova

John Agard

James Berry

Jackie Kay

Carol Anne Duffy

Ted Hughs

Philip Gross

 

Reading Fluency

At The Ridge, explicit teaching of reading fluency takes place in every reading lesson. However, we recognise that some children require extra fluency practice. In Key Stage 2, we have set texts which teachers select passages from to teach reading fluency. These texts can be used in isolation or as part of an intervention program. The texts are all rich in terms of the vocabulary and sentence structures but also develop children's knowledge of the world and understanding of others. Poetry is also excellent for developing reading fluency. All children in school learn poetry off by heart and have the opportunity to perform it. Some of the poems children learn are listed below.

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Lesser Spotted Animals

How a Lighthouse Works

Pebble in Your Pocket

Great Women who Changed the World

Ask Dr Fisher about Minibeasts

How to Change the World

How Cats Really Work

Everest

Poo: A Natural History of the Unmentionable

One Million Insects

Beetle Collectors Handbook (Linked to Beetle Boy)

I Ate Sunshine for Breakfast

Plastic Sucks

Wonder Garden

Why is Snot Green

Spiderwick

The Colours of History

Our Planet

Bandoola: The Great Elephant Rescue

How was that Built

Shackleton

Coming to England

Billy Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything

I am not a label

Journey to the Last River

The Lost Words

Prisoners of Geography

Origins of the Species

The Silk Roads

Survivors

A Different Sort of Normal

Trilobite

Humanatomy

Quangle Wangle's hat

Life Doesn't Frighten Me

Macavity the Mystery Cat

Adventure of Isabel

From a Railway Carriage

Wind on the Hill

The Crocodile

 

Tyger Tyger

George

My Shadow

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Jumblies

Jabberwocky

The Eagle

 

The Door

The Witches' Spell

If

Matilda who told lies

Extinct - Mandy Coe

Rules by Brian Patten

The People Upstairs - Ogden Nash

Caged Bird

The Raven

Spider and the fly

The Highway Man

The Listeners

Charge of the Light Brigade

 

 

Reading for Pleasure

At The Ridge we use evidence to inform our practice. We therefore follow the research from The Open University into Reading for Pleasure.

The Open University states that there are four strands which are interlinked and are essential for developing Reading for Pleasure. They are:

Learner-led

Independent

Social

Texts that temp

Teachers use this to inform their planning so that they carefully consider how to maximize the impact of reading time and read alouds, conduct informal book talk around tempting texts and develop children's reading agency and social interactions as readers.

At The Ridge, we intend for all children to be a part of memorable, enjoyable reading experiences. Including:

  • Participating in World Book Day
  • Participating in a range of literacy themed events, e.g. National Poetry Day and Libraries Week
  • Book swaps
  • Listening to reading by other children and various adults
  • Visits to the school library and local library
  • Visits from authors and illustrators
  • Opportunities to recommend books to each other and receive recommendations
  • Knowledgeable staff who can recommend books and chat to them about their reading choices and preferences

Reading Comprehension Texts

At The Ridge, our Reading curriculum follows the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum in England.

In Key Stage 1 and 2, we teach Reading using ‘Curriculum by Unity Partnership’ (CUSP).

CUSP is highly ambitious and unapologetically aspirational. The Reading curriculum is cohesive and carefully sequenced to ensure that key learning is taught progressively, revisited, consolidated and embedded over time. It is knowledge and vocabulary rich and is built upon the latest research around the teaching of comprehension, fluency and vocabulary.

The Reading Curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure that there are a variety of representations in the literature that children are exposed to and there is a balance of poetry, non-fiction, and fiction including short stories. Texts are deliberately challenging so that they are worthy of deep discussion and investigation and shape children as readers and citizens.

In Key Stage 1, children have 2 or 3 thirty minute CUSP reading lessons per week. In Key Stage 2, lessons are daily and are between 30 and 40 minutes in length. Lessons incorporate the teaching of vocabulary, fluency, comprehension strategies and 'Book Talk'. Each unit has a main text but children will also study other complementary texts which are designed to deepen their understanding of the main text and of the wider world.

Currently, Reception use specifically chosen books to stimulate oral comprehension, book talk and to work in parallel with Sounds-Write. Note that Reception texts may not be taught in the sequence outlined here. 

 

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term 4

Term 5

Term 6

Reception

Sweep

The Thing

Solomon Crocodile

A Beginner's Guide to Bear Spotting

Castles

Goal!

Fortunately, Unfortunately

Home

Elmer

There's a Tiger in the Garden*

Julian is a Mermaid

 

Peace at Last

Giraffes can't Dance

Not Now Bernard

The Odd Egg

I Don't Want Curly Hair!

The Squirrels who Squabbled

Where the Wild Things Are

Bog Baby

The Emperor's Egg

Burglar Bill

Six Dinner Sid

Wild

Last Stop on Market Street

The Hug

Tad

The Jolly Postman

Here we Are

The Lion Inside

Little Monkey

This Zoo is Not For You

The Storm Whale

I Don't Like Books. Never. Ever. The End.

 

The texts that children study during CUSP reading lessons can be found here:

 

School Life app download
A School Life Website
School Life app download