It is important to continue with reading routines that have been established during the Reception year. In Year One, it is a time for them to build upon their initial phonics phases and become more confident, fluent and skilled readers. In addition to daily teaching sessions, children are given regular opportunities to practice sounding and blending words in a meaningful context. Following Bug Club Phonics recommended scheduling in-class reading practice sessions, children read their phonics book least three times a week, using the same book to complete three re-reads to develop fluency. In-class reading practice sessions can be 1:1 with an adult, or in groups with an adult with daily reading practice sessions for children who need extra support. To consolidate these skills, we also recommend three readings of your child's phonics reading book each week. 

At home you can encourage a love of reading by modelling it yourself. Children love to copy the grown-ups! It is also recommended that you read with your child for 15-20 minutes each day. Many find bedtime a good time to put this into their daily routine.

At Shiphay Learning Academy, we use Bug Club Phonics to deliver our systematic synthetic phonics programme. Phonics teaching is provided daily in Year 1. Bug Club Phonics teaches a new grapheme and related phoneme, or alternative spellings to previously taught phonemes, in every Phoneme Session. Each unit concludes with a Language Session, which includes the teaching of associated irregular words. This fast pace, backed up by daily revision of past teaching, has proved the most effective and successful method of phonic training. The order of grapheme introduction ensures that children start reading and spelling a wide range of words at the earliest possible stage. Teachers plan for the progression of phonics teaching, ensuring that it is matched to children's needs.

For further support regarding the correct pronunciation of each sound and the corresponding Bug Club action for the sound, please click on the pictures below: