At Tweendykes School, we focus on many areas developing reading skills with the aim of enhancing a pupil’s potential for independence. 

Early reading at Tweendykes starts with Phase 1 phonics and pupils exploring different sounds. Pupils also access reading recovery and circuits where they practise key pre-reading skills such as eye-tracking, bilateral co-ordination and crossing the midline. Some pupils also take part in phonological awareness whereby words are explored using alliteration, rhyming and syllable counting.  

From this, more formal reading sessions can take place. Pupils take part in guided reading sessions in which they will apply their decoding skills while reading and start to explore comprehension of a text. At this stage, some pupils may also take part in Rocket Phonics sessions. Rocket Phonics teaches phonemes (or sounds) in a structured order to help pupils blend and read full words. Pupils can then begin to apply their phonics knowledge across the whole curriculum with the aim of reaching their full reading potential.