Reading
Here at Ingatestone Infant School we fully appreciate the importance and joy of being able to read. Our reading books are selected from a range of high quality reading schemes and published childrens' books. The books are graded by difficulty, allowing the children to choose any book they wish to read from within an appropriate range. So that books can be changed regularly there is an expectation that a reading book will be shared at home daily.
Children are taught how to use a full range of strategies to enable them to read and understand a wide variety of different reading forms through whole class shared reading, group guided reading and individual reading.
For more guidance about reading at Ingatestone Infant School please click on the book worm below.
Phonics - Letters and Sounds & ERP
In the Foundation Stage, we have now adopted the Letters and Sounds programme. This is a phonics resource published by the Department for Education and Skills. It aims to build children's speaking and listening skills in their own right as well as to prepare children for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and skills. It sets out a detailed and systematic programme for teaching phonic skills for children starting by the age of five, with the aim of them becoming fluent readers by age seven.
For more information about Letters and Sounds please click the word machine.
In KS1 the phonic element is taught through daily sessions of a systematic phonic scheme known as the Essex Reading Programme (formally ERR) The sounds and sight words encountered in ERP sessions are sent home for practising each day.
For more information about ERP please click the book.
Handwriting
At Ingatestone Infant School we have liaised with the Junior School and agreed upon a handwriting font which is introduced in the Foundation Stage Dolphins and is used by the children throughout the duration of their time here at the Infant School. Our focus is correct starting point, orientation and reasonable sizing. The order that we learn our letters is the same as ERP in Key Stage 1 and Letters and Sounds in the Foundation Stage.
We ensure that the children are supported to use the correct pencil grip as shown. Please click on the image to download our letter formation sheet.
