Reading Programmes in Year One

​​​​​​In Year One, we follow the DfE 'Letters and Sounds' programme, enhanced with resources from Jolly Phonics and Big Cat Phonics. A very wide range of reading books are offered, which are book banded according to challenge; these provide variety of reading experiences, from decodable texts to those requiring a broader range of reading strategies, including sight reading.

The Reading Curriculum in Year One

~ Word Reading

• Apply phonic knowledge and skills learnt as the route to decode words
• Respond speedily, with the correct sound, to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes (sounds), including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes.
• Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words.
• Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words containing GPCs (Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence) that have been taught.
• Read common exception words.
• Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.
• Read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings.
• Read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs.
• Read words with contractions [for example, I’m, I’ll, we’ll], and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s).
• Read aloud accurately books that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words.
• Re-read these books to build up their fluency and confidence in word reading.

~ Comprehension

• Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by:
  • listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently;
  • being encouraged to link what they read or hear read to their own experiences; 
  • becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales;
  • retelling key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales considering their particular characteristics;
  • recognising and joining in with predictable phrases;
  • learning to appreciate rhymes and poems;
  • recite some rhymes and poems by heart;
  • discussing word meanings, linking new meanings to those already known.
• Understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to by:
  • drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher;
  • checking that the text makes sense to them as they read; 
  • as they read correcting inaccurate reading;
  • discussing the significance of the title and events;
  • making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done;
  • predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far.
• Participate in discussion about what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say.
• Explain clearly their understanding of what is read to them.