Phonics
At Grimoldby Primary School, we use Bug Club Phonics to help your child learn to read. The programme follows a daily approach to learning to read by blending the sounds associated with the letters a child sees. Children in the Summer Term of our Nursery start to use Bug Club Phonics. In addition, we use Bug Club reading books, both in print and digital versions to support them in practising and consolidating the learning they have done at school. They also enable children to experience the pleasure and pride of reading their own books.
Further Information
Below are two recordings from Miss Young and Mrs Taylor about how early reading and Phonics is taught
Using Bug Club Reading Books
Inside every printed book there are notes to help you make the most of reading with your child.
Inside front cover: for younger children, these notes identify words with which children may need help and give ideas and strategies to help you feel confident that you know how best to help. For older children, the notes are intended to deepen each child’s understanding of the book. They provide background information about the time or place the book was written or sometimes information about the author or illustrator.
Inside back cover: these notes suggest puzzles and challenges that help children think about their reading. These include ‘Find it!’ activities that encourage children to revisit the text; ‘Share it!’ tasks that may involve making or writing something, and other ideas that offer ideas for further reading.
Using the online reading world
If you have access to an internet connection, your child can enjoy reading Bug Club books online as well as in print. Each child has a unique homepage and can log into it by following these steps:
- Go to www.activelearnprimary.co.uk
- Enter the login details. (School code: hww6)
- Your child’s homepage will appear.
Reading a book online
We allocate most books to your child according to their reading levels, but may also allocate books that are beyond their level that are of high interest or linked to a curriculum area. These books will appear in the ‘My Stuff’ area of their personal homepages.
Throughout the books there are quiz questions for your child to complete. To answer a question, just click on the bug icon. Your child does not need to finish all the quiz questions in one sitting and can come back to a book later.
When your child has finished all the quiz questions in a book, he or she will earn ‘ActiveLearn Coins’. By reading more books, your child will earn enough coins to ‘buy’ a reward in one of the many reward schemes. The answers to the quiz questions will be sent back to our teacher site so that we can see how your child is progressing. We will also be able to assign more books for your child to read if the virtual book bag is running low.
When your child has finished a book, it will move to ‘My Library’. Children can read these books again if they want to, or they can choose new books from ‘My Stuff’. 