Phonics

At David Livingstone Academy we teach reading through a linguistic phonics approach. Our approach to phonics begins in Reception and continues to Year 6. The children, as well as having reading lessons, have explicit phonics lessons throughout their time at David Livingstone. The approach looks at the relationship between spoken language and the written word.

Children study three main skills to enable them to learn to read: blending, the skills of blending graphemes (letters) together; segmenting, separating phonemes (sounds) for spelling; and manipulating, swapping phonemes to develop accuracy in reading. 

All teachers receive SoundsWrite (Sounds-Write. A new approach to the teaching of reading, spelling and writing.) training to aid them to deliver linguistic phonics lessons. SoundsWrite takes the children step-by-step through phonics introducing them to the 44 different sounds in the English language and their different spellings gradually and systematically.

We use decodable texts that align with the code that children have been taught to ensure that children have repeated practice of decoding and orthographic mapping, resulting in fluency.

We provide an inclusive phonics environment that is reading rich. There are plenty of opportunities for children to apply their learning at initial sound level, word level and phrase level. For pupils who find it difficult to retain knowledge, we implement regular rehearsal and practice throughout the day. There is a consistent use of resources around the school.