Ellacombe R&D ProjectLead Teacher: Nicola Jones

Aims…

• To share my journey of dealing with pupils not making expected progress in phonics.

• To explore possible reasons for barriers to learning and some ways you can support pupils who are finding reading difficult

• To share some ideas for good practice.

2012: Identifying the Gap.

Which teaching and learning approaches would raise standards in the application of phonics in reading for year 1 pupils not yet at ARE?

Why Phonics and How does it help with Reading?

• Rose Review• Reading by six• Getting them reading early• Year 1 phonics’ screening test

Reading the Text: Reading for Meaning

• Children should be taught to read the text! - they need to be taught to apply their phonics, then read for

understanding

Digging Deeper… • Approx 30 % of the group selected

•Identified as the lowest 10 pupils in year 1.

•Grouped into those working within phase 2 or 3

•To be taught by an experienced teacher

- 50% FSM

- 40% low attendance

- 60% were SA or SA+

- 20% EAL

- 50% Summer born

- 80% male

Global Barriers to Learning• Poor attention spans• Poor retention of new information• No love of learning• Poor self –esteem• Poor learning behaviours e.g. little in the way of resilience or

perseverance, • Little understanding of the purpose of the phonics lesson• Poor attendance• Poor language comprehension• English not a first language

Learning dispositions: Self- Regulation

Children who are engaged and interested and who pay attention not only spend more time on their tasks, but also spend higher-quality time on these tasks

Global barriers affecting phonic skills plus…

• Poor pronunciation of letter sound correspondences• Poor knowledge of the alphabetic code beyond phase 2 • Inability to recognise diagraphs within words• Poor application of blending and segmenting skills

Correct pronunciation and the alphabetic code

-Lots of practice to ensure it goes into long term memory-Recognition needs to be instant.

Uncluttering Learning: Extraneous Cognitive Load Theory

Can you tell me words that have

an ‘igh’?

Let’s play lotto...

Can you match the words to the pictures?

What were the key elements to any sequence?

• Purpose – make this explicit• Praise- specific encouragement• Pace- stops it getting boring• Participation- increases learning• Perseverance- keep revisiting to embed in long

term memory.

Phonics for Reading

• Introduce sounds and words orally• Identify and recognise grapheme• Blend phonemes within words using ‘sounding

out’• Blend instantly

Phonics for Spelling

• Hear the word• Segment it• Count the sounds• Choose best phoneme grapheme