Aims - Our Intent
At Ashurst CE Aided Primary School we believe that children need to have both good word recognition and good oral language comprehension in order to read well. We believe that in order to have the skills necessary to access a wide and varied curriculum our children need to have established good reading skills by the end of KS1. This ability provides children with a firm foundation so that they can extend their knowledge particularly in learning new vocabulary and developing comprehension skills.
Teaching and Learning Approaches – Our Implementation
At Ashurst we use a clear and consistent pedagogic approach to teach phonics; due to the size of our classes we use Read Write Inc and Jolly Phonics when teaching phonics.
Our phonics teaching is rigorous so that children learn to hear and say the sounds confidently and learn to decode effortlessly. These skills are made clear through modelling correct pronunciation and letter formation. During the week children take part in different activities to help them secure their phonic knowledge and understanding; they may work as part of a group or with a partner or individually with the teacher or teaching assistant.
Teachers and our teaching assistant follow the order of progression outlined in the RWI Handbook. As soon as the children can read and write the sounds learned, they are encouraged to read and spell words with those sounds. Children have short weekly tests to check their understanding of the sound –grapheme correspondences they have learned.
Children are regularly assessed using the RWI Assessments (These assessments have been adapted to make them more ‘user friendly’ though the content remains the same), before moving onto the next stage of the programme. Children may work with others from different year groups and will continue to revisit and practice key phonic skills until they are embedded, regardless of year group.
In addition to the Read Write Inc Sound and Word Assessments, we use previous Phonics Screening Check materials to measure children’s attainment in relation to the expected standard in the Statutory Phonics Assessment for Year 1. This is used for all Y1 children, the Y2 children who did not meet the standard in Y1 and the Y3 children who did not meet the standard in either Y1 or Y2. Once children have reached the point where they are meeting the national standard (32 marks out of 40 marks or above), we no longer assess them against this standard. These assessments are carried out by the children’s own teachers.
Read Write Inc Sound and Word Assessments are cumulative and children begin at the top of the chart each time. This ensures that there are no gaps in their knowledge of sounds. We intend to alternate between Sound and Word Assessment 2 and 3 to ensure that children do not start to memorise them.
At Ashurst children use a range of resources targeted to support and to enhance their learning and these include Read Write Inc. and Oxford University Press texts, Jolly Phonics resources, Speed Sound Cards, Picture-Sound Cards, Consonant and Vowel Cubes and Roll and write activities.
From Y1 children take part in the termly SPAR and Salford reading and spelling tests. These continue through the school to Y6 and provide valuable age standardised assessment information.
SEND Provision and Equal Opportunities
There are children of differing ability at Ashurst. We recognise this fact and provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child.
Children identified as needing extra support to secure their Phonics knowledge will be given appropriate help in the classroom. Children with special educational needs are set specific appropriate phonics targets on an Individual Learning Plan. Planning in Phonics takes into account the targets set for individual children in their Individual Support Plans (ISPs). Their learning will be supported and incorporate specific approaches to enable them to learn, make progress and be successful. Children will be provided with challenges matched to their needs through a range of teaching strategies including:
• using texts that provide children with the opportunity to practise key sounds and words before tackling a new text (pre-reading) thus increase their confidence and their successes.
- using visual and written materials in different fonts and colours
- using different coloured overlays
- using ICT, other technological aids and taped materials
- using alternative communication such as signs and symbols
- using support materials such as Toe-By-Toe.
Ashurst C of E Aided Primary School, has universal ambitions for every child, whatever their background or circumstances. Children learn and thrive when they are healthy, safe and engaged. In order to engage all children cultural diversity, home languages, gender and religious beliefs are all celebrated. Our curriculum includes a wide range of texts and other resources which represent the diversity and backgrounds of all our children.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
All children deserve the opportunity to experience happy, fulfilled and successful lives. At Ashurst CE Aided Primary we acknowledge that mental wellbeing is a normal part of daily life, in the same way as physical health. At Ashurst CE Aided Primary we nurture our bodies, minds, each other and our environment. By providing opportunities for learning outdoors, we aim to connect children and staff with the natural environment. We embrace the benefits this brings for mental health and physical and emotional wellbeing.
We promote pupils’ self-control and ability to self-regulate, and strategies for doing so. This will enable them to become confident in their ability to achieve well and persevere even when they encounter setbacks or when their goals are distant, and to respond calmly and rationally to setbacks and challenges. This integrated, whole-school approach to the teaching and promotion of health and wellbeing has a potential positive impact on behaviour and attainment.
Pupils will also be taught about the benefits of hobbies, interests and participation in their own communities. We encourage children to recognise that they are social beings and that spending time with others, taking opportunities to consider the needs of others and practising service to others, including in organised and structured activities and groups, are beneficial for health and wellbeing.
Children should be inspired to follow their dreams when they leave school, whether that be to secure a job, begin vocational training or go on to further education.
We have a shared responsibility to prepare our children to achieve mental, physical and economic wellbeing in a local, national and global context.
Mental health and wellbeing play a crucial role in the teaching of literacy by providing a supportive environment that encourages children to engage with texts and develop their literacy skills. Here are some ways in which mental health and wellbeing can support the teaching of literacy:
Emotional Wellbeing: Children who feel emotionally well are more likely to engage with texts and understand them better. Reading and writing activities can help them express their thoughts and feelings, which is essential for literacy development.
Resilience and Hope: Reading and writing can provide children with a sense of hope and resilience, especially during challenging times. These activities can help them cope with difficulties and build a strong foundation for literacy learning.
Mental Health Literacy: Schools can promote mental health literacy, including offering a range of supportive texts, to support children in recognising the signs of mental health struggles and understand more about the strategies they can use as well as talking to an adult in school. This can lead to better literacy outcomes as children feel supported and understood.
Our whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing can help create a supportive environment that encourages children to engage with texts and develop their literacy skills.
By addressing mental health and wellbeing, we aim to create a more inclusive and supportive classroom environment that fosters literacy development and helps children thrive academically and personally.
Outcomes – Our Impact
At Ashurst we strive to enable our children to have a good phonetic knowledge and understanding. These skills will enable them to be fully literate and articulate and to be prepared for their secondary education and later life. Through engaging lessons, we aim to foster a love of learning and an enjoyment of independent learning through reading and research. We challenge children of all abilities to make good progress in all areas of the English National Curriculum. Ashurst children are encouraged to have a growth mind-set and to develop the skills of perseverance and resilience. Through reading in particular, pupils are given a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.
Monitoring and Evaluation
This policy will be reviewed by the English coordinators, in consultation with the staff, as and when elements of English are identified or prioritised within the School Development Plan.
Assessment:
All children are tracked using the in-school tracking system. After each unit of work, class teachers assess children based on their knowledge and understanding linked to the Phonics objectives in the National Curriculum.
Roles and Responsibilities
Subject Leaders - To have an impact on raising standards of Phonics attainment across the whole school.
- Adapt and use the Programme of Study for English across the whole school to meet the needs of our children.
- To monitor the whole schools and individual needs.
- To be able to assess individual professional development opportunities and needs.
- To monitor and maintain high quality resources.
- To maintain an overview of current trends and developments within the subject.
- To ensure, together with the Head Teacher an effective programme of moderation and assessments.
- To ensure a regular and effective programme of analysis of short-term planning is in place.
This policy was adopted in: September 2025
The policy is to be reviewed in: September 2026