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Get to know some of the FFT Partner Schools improving their literacy.
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Why did Applegarth Academy choose FFT Success for All Phonics?

Applegarth has been following Success for All for several years – they liked the cooperative approach to learning, which places reading at the heart of the curriculum.

Children are exposed to a range of rich and diverse texts, with a focus on understanding, using, and then applying ambitious vocabulary. This is particularly key for Applegarth as many of their pupils join the school at low starting points, with significantly less vocabulary than their peers nationally.

The school has found Success for All Phonics's systematic and progressive nature to be particularly supportive for their pupils who struggle with reading or have English as an additional language. They also found that it aligned with the same core values as their English provision.

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Really made me feel like I was doing right by them

Ms Edmond

Early Career Teacher

As an ECT, I was a bit nervous to teach Year 1 – it is such a crucial time for these young learners and I wanted to make sure I got it right! The layout of the planning, mixed with the videos on demand, have really helped with my confidence.

Autumn 1 was the hardest for me, but once we did the first round of Reading Assessment Programme and I saw that the children made progress, it really made me feel like I was doing right by them. I kept watching the videos and refining my teaching further – looking at how I could support those pupils to the best of my ability.

To be honest, I am not sure if I would be this confident if it isn't for the support of the English Lead, my team, the planning and of course, the videos. I really have found myself enjoying the subject I feared the most at the beginning of the year!”

Implementing the programme

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Implementing the programme has been seamless for several reasons.

  1. The school already had a Success for All phonics foundation in place, so transitioning to FFT Phonics was easy.
  2. The manuals and books were packaged effectively, creating a smooth start. Staff revealed other schools in the local authority had found this part rather daunting and unorganised, causing stress and a delayed start for some.
  3. Communication and support with the FFT was always prompt and helpful.

As many of their pupils begin their academic journey with lower starting points compared to their peers nationally, Phonics and Early Reading is a key priority for Applegarth. Early reading teachers and support staff attended the online training sessions and have consistent access to the online video tutorials to continue to support their understanding, practice and to maintain fidelity to the programme. All teachers have been given training and support around phonics and spelling from the Early Reading and the English Lead, who regularly have contact with the FFT team.

The Reading Assessment Programme (RAP) is a staple element of the early reading programme, helping staff to quickly and efficiently identify any misconceptions. The data is broken down into categories allowing staff to analyse the pupil gaps to deliver short, sharp interventions. RAP is not only used within their Early Reading team, but across the whole school to assess pupils reading fluency, decoding skills and identification of their common exception words. The precise data also allows the staff to track progress of any pupils with additional learning needs, who may progress at a slower rate.

Pupils within Year 2 and Year 3 also have access to Spelling with the Jungle Club. The programme allows the pupils to develop their spelling by revising their phonics and orthography, while also combining it with new knowledge around morphology (prefixes and suffixes).

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Phonics screening check 2022

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Phonics screening check 2023

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Phonics screening check 2024

Reading progress made

Teachers reported:

  • Clearer organisation and structure within phonics
  • More rigour within assessments and scheduled consolidation weeks to address misconceptions

Spotlight on pupil progress

Pupil A is an enthusiastic and keen learner but has always found phonics rather tricky. She refused to answer questions in lessons and would often mouth the words rather than read them during shared reader activities. Once we reorganised our pupils into their stage of phonics rather than teaching whole class, it was like a whole new girl entered the class!

Pupil A became our group Ambassador, greeting visitors (familiar and unfamiliar) to explain the learning happening within the classroom. Her progress has been outstanding and has already progressed from one stage to another, moving to a different group. Her confidence has grown immensely and she is eager to master her phonics now that she is more comfortable with it.

Phonics is actually very fun! We play games like quick erase and we have to beat the timer, and break-it-down where we get to be robots! I am really good at listening for the sounds! I don’t know why I used to find phonics scary, it did make me sad when others were reading faster than me though, but now I am reading in front of the whole class! I really like my teachers!

Pupil A

Why is Applegarth Academy pleased with FFT Success for All Phonics?

Ms Takacs, English Lead, KS2 Phase Leader and AHT, highlights the benefits seen using the phonics programme:

Training videos on demand have made it more practical to educate all staff of the importance of phonics (including KS2 teachers) as they can be watched at any time and can also be paused to discuss.
The videos have been a great tool to remind staff who teach/cover a phonics lesson how to accurately teach each element of the provision. It has created more confident teachers, which is so crucial for early reading!
The Parent Portal has been a useful tool for our parents to support their children at home and really understand the elements of phonics.
FFT Phonics Conferences for leaders has been helpful to speak with other leaders in schools with similar (and different) cohorts of children. It also allows us leaders a chance to have discussion updates and query anything that has come up in our schools.
Response to emails are almost instant! People are always on the ready to support.
Books are diverse and show a collection of fiction and non-fictions. They show a range of different ethnicities and abilities, so our pupils feel connected to the individuals in the books. They also feel connected to the storyline of each family as you can see them progress throughout the series of books!
Our children enjoy the lessons (quick erase, say it fast and break it down have become their favourite part!).
While we did not opt to follow Routes to Reading as our pupils follow another provider, having these texts available has been supportive for our pupils who need extra support and exposure to texts. The extra books online have also been praised by teachers, pupils and parents.

Find out more

We're happy to answer questions you have about FFT Phonics.