The Royal Lane SSP is Bug Club Phonics. It is one of the DfE’s approved phonics teaching programmes and aims to help all children learn to read in a fun and accessible way.

Bug Club Phonics offers a fully resourced systematic synthetic phonics programme based on a proven progression that matches the National Curriculum and Early Learning Goals.

Bug Club Phonics is taught to targeted groups of students. They access this program between 2 and 3 times per week for a 30 minute lesson. Students are given multiple opportunities throughout the school day to apply these skills in order to become more independent and fluent readers.

In conjunction with the Bug Club Phonics program, all our students access one of 3 reading comprehension programs. The reading program they access is chosen carefully by their teacher based on the students' learning style.

1. RAPID: This reading program is a complete intervention solution for readers working behind Age Related Expectations, and children with special educational needs. Based on proven pedagogies, Rapid has been shown over and over to hugely improve children’s confidence and support reading progress.

The RAPID reading program:

• Increases children’s confidence in reading and encourages success.
   
• Age-appropriate books provide tons of choice and fine levelling to help children progress.
   
• Hundreds of fiction and non-fiction books and eBooks with a variety of engaging topics, from animals to space travel, to hook in even the most reluctant readers!
   
• Readers available in print and online to enable children to make progress in school and at home.
   
• Helps children master core skills to enable them to access the curriculum.
   
• Ideal for one-to-one and small group sessions.
   
• Dyslexia-friendly design is perfect for helping dyslexic children to read.
   

2. RAPID Plus: This is part of the RAPID reading scheme however the books contain more ‘grown up’ themes and are presented in a more mature manner. These books are suited to many of our KS4 and 6th form students. As they have a mature feel about them our older students engage with the books and activities in a more positive way.

3. Teen Reads - This is a selection of books that we have chosen with our 6th form students in mind. As with RAPID Plus, they cover more mature and ‘grown-up’ themes. These books provide greater opportunities for extended discussion around the theme of each book, exploring PSHCE and RSE topics. These books provide a less rigid approach than RAPID and RAPID Plus, meaning that the staff delivering these lessons can change and adapt the content of their lessons according to the needs and interests of the students.

We also have smaller, targeted reading groups that run at the same time as the Reading Intervention sessions. These groups are designed for students who are not making expected progress. Students are referred to the reading intervention group for extra help and support with an element of their reading and attend every day for a full half term.

Below are links to the RAPID, RAPID Plus and Teen Reads Reading schemes.

https://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/primary/subjects/english-literacy/rapid-reading#structure

https://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/secondary/subjects/english-and-media/rapid-plus-1

https://www.badgerlearning.co.uk/teen-reads.html

 

Ms Sojka
Reading Intervention Manager

Phonics and Reading

What is Phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children to hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language. Understanding phonics will help children know which letters to use when they are writing words as well as decoding and blending sounds in words to help them read. 

How do we teach phonics?

Students at Meadow High School have Reading Intervention lessons throughout their entire time at Meadow. The sessions are taught every morning from 9:25 - 9:50. 

At Northwood road, we teach early reading through the DFE validated scheme Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which offers a fully-resourced systematic synthetic phonics programme.

Little Wandle Letters & Sounds Revised is taught in small groups at the students’ relevant phase by the form tutor and their teaching assistants. Our students have multiple opportunities throughout the school day to apply these skills across the curriculum in order to become more independent and fluent readers.

Reading at home and school

The reading skills the students learn during Reading Intervention are practised across the curriculum. In addition we have dedicated reading time during the week to develop pupils reading skills, fluency and comprehension. For these we use Big Cat Phonics: a scheme of fully-decodable texts matched exactly to the programme progression.

• Key Stage 3 students have four reading practice sessions per week.
• Key Stage 4 students have three reading practice sessions per week.

These books will be sent home each week to allow parents, carers, siblings and family members to read with the student and practise these skills further. We at Northwood Road believe your involvement can help students take pride and pleasure in their reading and your help is essential in their reading development.

Click here for access to Little Wandle complete parent page where you will find useful videos so you can see how they are taught at school and feel confident about supporting their reading at home. Please contact your form tutor for further help and information.

 

Mr M Parker
Lead Teacher for Reading (Northwood Road)