Yattendon C of E Primary School is celebrating being ranked within the top 3 per cent in the country for its phonics results, and first in the Local Authority. School has recently received a Ministerial letter after its achievement of the highest score out of 61 local schools, with a 100 per cent success rate in Year 1.

 

Phonics is the first strategy that children should be taught in helping them learn to read. The school received a letter from the Minister of State for School Standards, the Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, praising its efforts in helping pupils to ‘develop a firm foundation in reading, from which they can become increasingly fluent and develop a lifelong love of reading’.

 

The success represents a great deal of hard work from the teaching staff and pupils. Daily differentiated interactive phonics sessions were introduced across the school, along with half-termly tracking of progress. The headteacher and phonics lead carry out regular learning walks to ensure the effectiveness of the approach. 

 

It’s been a successful year for the village primary, which also achieved the second highest percentage in the Local Authority for its SATs results in Reading, Writing and Maths in Year 6.