Phonics Intent

At Northfield Road Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that every child becomes a confident, fluent and enthusiastic reader. We use Read Write Inc., a high-quality, systematic synthetic phonics programme developed by Ruth Miskin, to provide a consistent and structured approach to the teaching of early reading and writing. Through daily, engaging lessons, children are taught to recognise and learn phonemes (the smallest units of sound) and the graphemes (letters or groups of letters) that represent them. They practise blending these sounds to read words and segmenting them to spell, building accuracy, fluency and understanding over time. Regular assessment ensures that teaching is closely matched to each child’s stage of development and targeted support helps all pupils keep up and catch up. By mastering phonics early, children gain the confidence and skills to read for meaning and pleasure, laying the foundations for lifelong learning and success across the curriculum.

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What is the Year 1 phonics screening check?

The Year 1 phonics screening check is a short assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.

It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support by their school to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to retake the check in Year 2 so that schools can track pupils until they are able to decode.