In her first blog, Fiona Walker, our new Head of Pre-Prep, (shown above at our recent Phonics Workshop) explains why she sees reading as 'the bedrock that underpins all learning' and tells us about the many good things that can come out of reading with your child.
I don’t think many experiences in teaching can top the pleasure that comes from seeing a four- or five-year-old who initially found reading a struggle, proudly deciphering a paragraph or a whole page of a book. As well as the joy that comes from sharing a child’s sense of achievement, what makes these moments touching and fulfilling is the knowledge that learning to read fluently is so vital to a child’s future. Reading is, after all, the key that unlocks doors not just to literacy but to maths and science too. Mastering it allows a child to access the lesson plans, textbooks, on-line classrooms and worksheets that are the essential currency of today’s learning.
Reading is the key that unlocks doors not just to literacy but to maths and science learning...Our new reading scheme is the bedrock underpinning all our Pre-Prep learning
Mrs Fiona Walker, Head of Harrodian Pre-Prep
That’s why, this year, with expert advice and input from Ms Lynne Hirons, our Head of Reading and Phonics, we have introduced, a new reading scheme for Harrodian Pre-Prep that we view as the bedrock underpinning all our Pre-Prep learning. Anima Phonics is an intensive but intuitive phonics scheme with a carefully structured programme of engaging reading activities that encourages children to work steadily, day by day and week by week towards defined reading goals. The children have quickly taken to the engaging combination of routine and variety that defines Anima Phonics and, as teachers we are already reaping the benefits: pupils who tend to find word patterns easy to grasp are learning more words at a faster rate, and those who can be more hesitant are also making confident and consistent progress.
Pupils who tend to find word patterns easy to grasp are learning more words at a faster rate, and those who can be more hesitant are also making confident and consistent progress
Communicating these changes to parents was among our top priorities for the start of the year. Our first Reading Workshop early in September gave us the chance both to demonstrate how we are setting about putting our new learning strategy into practice and to explain how we think, by working alongside us, parents can help their children master reading skills.
The positive response we received from over 100 mums and dads who took the time to come along was enough to show us that our Pre-Prep parents are more than keen to get behind us. But the range of questions that we fielded on the subject of phonics also told us that lingering uncertainties about that topic still remain an inhibiting factor. It was clear that we still had work to do to in explaining what Anima Phonics is, why it’s working well and how parents can play their part in the process.
Our first Reading Workshop gave us the chance both to demonstrate to you how we are setting about putting our new learning strategy into practice and to explain how we think that, by working alongside us, parents can help their children master reading skills
The solution we settled on was the Phonics workshops event we staged for parents in late September. This consisted of three separate hands-on Phonics sessions each designed to clearly demonstrate how we tackle the reading needs of a different Pre-Prep age group, as children move up through the school from Reception to PP3. The feedback on the day was hugely encouraging. ‘I had felt a bit overwhelmed by my confusion of phonics and by what the children were doing in the classroom,’ one Dad told me at the end. ‘But now I’ve grasped the fundamentals, I really feel ready to get involved in reading with my daughter.’
I’m hoping that other parents are feeling similarly inspired. As a working mother of three boys, I’m aware that putting time aside for reading with a child can sometimes seem a chore after a long day. But I also have first-hand experience that reading with Mum or Dad really can create a pathway to a love of reading. It’s about keeping it fun. I snuggle down with my 5 year-old, Wilf, for 15 minutes each evening and try to vary my approach, depending on his mood and energy levels. Sometimes, that means letting him do most of the reading with me supporting by sounding out the words and blending them. At others times, we swap, with me doing more of the leg work but still keeping Wilf immersed in the vocabulary and comprehension of what we are reading. Home reading is not confined to the younger ones either: my eldest two (8 and 10) still read to me and me to them at the end of the day – this is vital in supporting with inference skills and new vocabulary as children mature. In our house, reading is a way to wind down and decompress, with sometimes all of us bundled together round one book, if we can agree on which one to share!
The intimacy of sharing of a book daily seems to encourage a child to let you into their world. It probably won’t be long before you find him or her sharing a personal story, a thought, or a surprising secret...
Personally, I‘ve found the investment in time and effort paying off and not just in terms of discernible reading progress. The intimacy of sharing of a book daily seems to encourage a child to let you into their world. It probably won’t be long before you find him or her sharing a personal story, a thought, or a surprising secret you hadn’t anticipated. For me and, I suspect, for many other parents, it is these special moments of connection with your child that epitomise what ‘quality time’ can really mean.
Mrs Fiona Walker is Head of Harrodian Pre Prep. Feedback to this blog is welcome via: website@harrodian.co.uk
