About this curriculum

ESSENTIAL LETTERS AND SOUNDS

Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) is our chosen Phonics programme. The aim of ELS is‘ Getting all children to read well, quickly’. It teaches children to read by identifying the phonemes (the smallest unit of sound) and graphemes (the written version of the sound) within words and using these to read words.

Children begin learning Phonics at the very beginning of Reception and it is explicitly taught every day during a dedicated slot on the timetable. Children are given the knowledge and the skills to then apply this independently.

Throughout the day, children will use their growing Phonics knowledge to support them in other areas of the curriculum and will have many opportunities to practise their reading. This includes reading 1:1 with a member of staff, with a partner during paired reading and as a class.

Children continue daily Phonics lessons in Year 1 and further through the school as necessary to ensure all children become confident, fluent readers.

We follow the ELS progression and sequence. This allows our children to practise their existing phonic knowledge whilst building their understanding of the ‘code’ of our language GPCs (Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence). As a result, our children can tackle any unfamiliar words that they might discover.

Children experience the joy of books and language whilst rapidly acquiring the skills they need to become fluent independent readers and writers. ELS teaches relevant, useful and ambitious vocabulary to support each child’s journey to becoming fluent and independent readers.

We begin by teaching the single letter sounds before moving to diagraphs such as, ‘sh’ (two letters spelling one sound), trigraphs ‘igh’ (three letters spelling one sound) and quadgraphs ‘eigh’ (four letters spelling one sound).

We teach children to:

  • Decode     (read) by identifying each sound within a word and blending them together     to read fluently
  • Encode     (write) by segmenting each sound to write words accurately.

The structure of ELS lessons allows children to know what is coming next, what they need to do, and how to achieve success. This makes it easier for children to learn the GPCs we are teaching (the alphabetic code) and how to apply this when reading.

ELS is designed on the principle that children should ‘keep up’ rather than ‘catch up’. Since interventions are delivered within the lesson by the teacher, any child who is struggling with the new knowledge can be immediately targeted with appropriate support. Where further support is required, 1:1 interventions are used. These interventions are short, specific and effective.

Supporting Reading at Home

  • Children will only read books that are entirely decodable, this means that they should be able to read these books as they already know the code contained within the book.
  • We only use pure sounds when decoding words (no ‘uh’ after the sound)
  • We want children to practise reading their book 4 times across the week working on these skills:
        Decode – sounding out and blending to read the word.
        Fluency – reading words with less obvious decoding.
        Expression – using intonation and expression to bring the text to life!

We must use pure sounds when we are pronouncing the sounds and supporting children in reading words. If we mispronounce these sounds, we will make reading harder for our children. Please watch the videos sent home from your child's class teacher.

Any books that are not yet decodable for the children will be a 'sharing book'. These books are there for you to read with you child, helping to instil a love of reading from the very beginning of their reading journey. These could be read together with your child reading the words they are able to decode or could be read to your child..

More support for parents and carers can be found here:

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/essential-letters-and-sounds/

1148112025259377_1071583758311475
❤️Year 2 have been working hard on creating acrostic poems in English. They have created a fabulous display to remember those who fought and died for our country. Well done year 2❤️
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1071558068314044
The whole school gathered on the playground today at 11am to observe a 2-minute silence together. 💙❤️ During this moment of reflection, the children were asked to think of those who have fought and died for our country in the past but also to be thankful for those who continue to work to protect our country today! 🇬🇧
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1068920045244513
💙❤️FINAL TOUR DATES ❤️💙 These are the final tours that will be running before the Primary application deadline on 15th January 2025. Come and see what our wonderful school has to offer for your children starting school in September 2025. 🤩 To book on a tour, please telephone the school office on 01752 705345. ☎️
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1068750435261474
Many thanks to all the parents and carers who attended our Coffee and Chat session this week. Here are the details for visits to Santa!
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1068195098650341
Dear parents/carers, As the afterschool reading clubs have been thoroughly enjoyed by lots of parents/carers and grandparents, Miss Harris will be running three additional afterschool reading clubs this term on the following dates: -Thursday 14th Nov 3:20-4:00pm -Thursday 21st Nov 3:20-4:00pm -Thursday 28th Nov 3:20-4:00pm If you would like to attend with your child, please come to the school office and sign up on the sign-up sheet. Due to the size of our library, these spaces are limited to 15. Additionally, if you sign up but unfortunately cannot attend, please let the office know so that they can remove you from the list and give this place to another family. Tea and coffee available for adults, juice and biscuits for children. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Thank you, Miss Harris. Year 6 teacher and English lead.
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1068014982001686
💙❤️JOB OPPORTUNITY ❤️💙 We are looking for an enthusiastic and passionate Teaching Assistant to welcome into our amazing staff team and school. 🏫 Please click on the link below for more information or call the school office on 01752 705345 ☎️
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1066013642201820
Before half-term, our KS1 and KS2 children from military families had the lovely opportunity to work with Colourful Horizons to design and create Remembrance Day poppy pebbles. The children have been given their pebbles to hide within the community. If you spot any, please upload a photo to MKC Poppy Pebbles Facebook group and keep an eye out to see if your pebble is found! A huge thank you to Colourful Horizons and to MKC Heroes for funding such a wonderful project.
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1057426056393912
Some EYFS children and parents enjoyed the school library this evening at the afterschool reading club. All classes have now had an opportunity this half term to enjoy this space! An email will be sent out after half term informing you of some additional library slots before Christmas. Thank you, Miss Harris.
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1056686569801194
Foundation Stage have had a brilliant spooky day today! A huge thank you to Manadon Vale PTFA for the super party this afternoon 🎃👻
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1056078389862012
Year 3 Come Dancing 🕺🏼 💃 This term, Year 3 have been creating a range of motifs and dynamics in their dance lessons. A change of speed and level has been a focus, as well as being able to perform in cannon and unison. This morning, both Orcas and Coral performed to each other. Here are some stills 📸 More pictures and videos to follow soon
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale
1148112025259377_1055104999959351
It was wonderful to see so many Year 6 parents and grandparents turn up to our first afterschool ‘Rock up and Read session’ today. The children loved sharing their independent writing with you! 💙
View on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Manadonvale