There are seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes in early years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.

Three areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving.

These are the prime areas:

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development

Providers must also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

Each child’s level of development is assessed against 17 early learning goals at the end of Reception (ELGs) across all 7 areas of learning. 

The grades are EXPECTED or EMERGING. Below you will see the ELG's and where your child needs to be at the end of Reception. 

At Thorpe Lea Primary School, children start to learn to read and write using Read Write Inc. phonics, a systematic synthetic phonics scheme. They begin the scheme as soon as they join us and carry on until they have moved through the entire programme. The programme helps to build your child's confidence and fluency when reading and writing. 

Below is a quick guide for parents/carers  with some tips and ideas to help you support your child with their phonics. You can also find more information at :

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/ 

Set 1 Sounds

All children start phonics by being taught these sounds in this order. Each day, the sounds are revisited and reviewed to check for accuracy. 

To help with pronunciation, here is a video to help you. Please click here. 

Set 2 Sounds

Once children are confident with all Set 1 sounds, they will progress on to Set 2 sounds. 

Tips to help your child with reading:

1. Choose a quiet time – set time aside with no distractions for 10-15 minutes each day.
   Be positive – boost your child’s achievement and give praise. Using books that may seem easy builds confidence rather than a book which has too many unknown words; building self-esteem is important when creating fluent and confident readers.
2. Read for variety – children need to experience putting their skills into practice, so let them read the weekly shopping list, ingredients for a recipe, the football scores or comics. If it has words, your child can practice reading them!
3. Use the Parent guide to Read Write Inc. Phonics | Oxford Owl, where you will discover more top tips to support your child at home, including parent tutorial videos, the ‘Sound Pronunciation Guide’ and more ideas and resources to support your child.
4. Remember to be a good role model by demonstrating your reading for pleasure.
5. Visit your local library to borrow exciting new books, comics and other reading materials.