Reading
Here at Ingatestone Infant School we appreciate the importance and joy of being able to read. In line with the new government reading framework our approach to reading has changed.
Phonics reading books are sent home weekly that are decodable and follow the sounds and digraphs being learnt by the children in class. We expect children to read this book multiple times during the week to build up their fluency and confidence.
The children are also able to choose a new shared book to take home to enjoy with a family member daily.
Once children are confident fluent readers, they are moved onto a coloured banded book appropriate to their reading level which can be changed daily.
Children are taught how to use a full range of strategies to enable them to read and understand a wide variety of different reading forms through whole class shared reading, group guided reading and individual reading.
Phonics - Letters and Sounds
The school follows Twinkl Phonics which is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme approved by the Department of Education. It provides a structured approach to learning grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs), perfect for helping children progress from simple sounds to developing more complex knowledge and skills.
The children love joining 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. The multisensory approach includes engaging activities focused on developing and applying reading and writing skills. mnemonics, actions, songs to reinforce sound and letter recognition and active repetition to ensure rapid recall of GPCs and common exceptions words.
For more information about Letters and Sounds please click the word machine
Handwriting
Children in key stage one use the upstroke in their handwriting and are taught to join their letters when they are ready. The children in foundation stage have started our new handwriting scheme which is linked to Twinkl Phonics, and they do not use lead in strokes. Our focus is on learning to hold a pencil correctly, using the correct starting point, orientation, and reasonable sizing. Please click on the links below to download our letter formation sheets.
We ensure that the children are supported to use the correct pencil grip as shown. Please click on the image to download our letter formation sheet.
