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Why did Thornton Primary School choose FFT Success for All Phonics?
Thornton Primary did a lot of research before choosing FFT’s phonics scheme. They chose the scheme because it had high expectations and a real focus on fluency, which they had highlighted as a specific area of weakness in their school. The RAP programme also supported this and allowed the school to track and monitor fluency easily. Here are some of the reasons staff at the school loved the scheme:
- The school found resources to be really engaging for the children and simple to use. Also, the adults found them to be very straightforward to follow and that staff can just pick them up and go.
- Price – they found this very competitive for everything included. This was another important factor with a tight budget.
- Thornton loved that the training was available on-demand as well as in person. This allowed them to release staff when needed and train new staff, but also allowed staff to dip back in and refresh on certain aspects, which they have found incredibly useful.
- The school revealed that webinars that outlined the programme were useful in explaining how the programme worked and what was included. It gave them an opportunity to ask any questions they felt were relevant when making their decision.
- Thornton thought the structure of FFT Success for All Phonics and the use of cooperative learning strategies was excellent.
Farah Ayub
Deputy Headteacher
We have successfully implemented the FFT Success for All Phonics programme since last academic year and feel that this has had a huge impact on developing our children's phonic knowledge and improving our reading attainment. Our teachers and support staff have accessed regular training throughout the year and our monitoring and assessment has shown that the programme has been delivered with fidelity and enthusiasm. This has been further confirmed by an in-school supportive audit, carried out by FFT, which highlighted several areas of strength.
We are now in a strong position where the programme is being delivered consistently across our EYFS and KS1 setting. We are looking forward to continuing our FFT journey with the full implementation and embedding of the Year 2 programme (Routes to Reading and Spelling with the Jungle Club).
Implementing the programme
The school found implementing the programme has been incredibly positive due to the high level of CPD support available from FFT. There has been a range of CPD on offer for the Early Reading Lead, teachers and support staff. The CPD offer has been flexible with on-demand sessions, which meant that staff could be released at different times to access the training and were also able to revisit the sessions when required.
Ready-made resources have enabled the programme to be delivered efficiently and effectively, ensuring there is consistency in delivery. Through joint monitoring, the FFT follow-up visits have provided further CPD for the Early Reading Lead in identifying areas of strength and areas for development which have all had an impact on improving teaching and learning.
Teachers across the school have accessed the Reading Assessment Programme training and the programme has been used across the school on a half termly or termly basis (year group dependant) to analyse GPC gaps and fluency levels.
pass rate after 10 months
latest pass rate
Reading progress made
The school has noticed an improvement in spelling since using the FFT Success for All Phonics programme and Spelling with the Jungle Club.
Children are noticing the spelling patterns taught and applying them in their writing. Thornton Primary has also observed a vast improvement in reading fluency levels.
Spotlight on pupil progress
FFT Success for All Phonics has had an impact on several key areas of reading. Through a structured approach to phonics, there has been a vast improvement in children's GPC knowledge; they are also beginning to see an improvement in children's reading fluency and decoding skills.
Why is Thornton Primary School pleased with FFT Success for All Phonics?
Farah Ayub, Deputy Headteacher, highlights the benefits seen since using the phonics programme: