Any phonics and reading afterschool clubs or summer camps in London?

[javaprogrammer]

I do not know how to teach phonics and sound blending, so I need a club or summer camp to help getting my 3.5 year-old up to speed. The nursery is not academic and still playing all the time. My child only knows single-letter sounds and cannot read CVC words yet.

I see summer programs like
https://www.antlearning.co.uk/programmes/accelerated-reading-programme/
https://www.freereaders.co.uk/Reader-programs

Aware of anything similar in SW or W London?

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and 100% this

mine is at a top N London private school and went into reception not being able to read at all. She could recognise single letter phonics. She’s now in summer term and able to read short books.

the reason I don’t recommend you trying to teach child how to read is every school uses a different method some follow Read Write Inc and others do different programms you risk confusing your child.

In her year when they started at reception people were at all different levels and the first term was spent bringing everyone up to same standard.

@hertsmumma221 You mean your child couldn't read words (dog etc) at the beginning of reception, and now (still in reception) she can read short stories after 2 terms?

@MyTwoDads How is the WUS 4+ different from those of other preps such as Glendower or Kensington?

@javaprogrammer so, Glendower and KP are one round assessments. And they are very much looking at the PSED element of the early years curriculum (personal, social and emotional development) and their speaking and listening skills. In addition to some academic elements.

WUS on the other hand (bearing in mind have only done 4+ assessments for one year) is more thorough. What we know is: it is 2 rounds. Round one is PSED and and Speaking and Listening, and then 100 children are called back for round 2 which then really looks at the academic side: numbers, shapes, patterns, phonics, drawing etc.

So, out of the 3 schools you mentioned, WUS would be the more difficult to pass, plus they have a lot more applicants (partly because they are co-ed and the other 2 are just girls).

They’ll all be taught to read from scratch in reception, so I agree with @hertsmumma221 that there’s no point in making it boring for them by teaching it all before they start.

My 4yo started reception in September (at a state school). He could write his name and do a few CVC words. He can now also read short books.

I personally don’t agree with the concept of a 4+ assessment, but I’m sure it must be mainly looking at teachability rather than early reading. My nephew went through the process and is at a “top London prep”, but was at a similar level to his cousin.

@MyTwoDads Thanks for the info.
Can you please elaborate on Speaking and Listening?
Will they be read a story and asked questions about it?

@javaprogrammer as I mentioned in my DM to you - have a look at my instagram because there are lots of FAQs, advice and topics about the 4+ assessments there.

But yes, spealing and listening includes the storytime element. Can they listen carefully, answer questions about what is going on, give relevant comments about what they can see? It also incorporates following instructions, conversing with the adults in the room etc. The schools will have slightly different expectations for what a Sep/Oct born will be able to do/say compared to a Jul/Aug.

@MyTwoDads
I am too old-school to have an Instagram account, but thanks for the info.

If the non-WUS ones only test for Reading/Listening + PSED elements + some basic fine-motor/writing skills, then wouldn't most children at decent nurseries be ready automatically? Why the hassle about 4+ prep?

@javaprogrammer not quite.
Glendower and KP do focus on PSED but they will also be asking for some number and phonics work too so children will need to know that. I was just saying that this the main theme for their assessments - but they certainly do look at academic elements. It just seemed that last year, WUS threw everything they could at the assessments.

The majority of nurseries will start the phonics in September and will usually only focus on one sound per week. The assessments will start a few months later and therefore not give the children enough time to learn all the single letter sounds, plus begin to learn to blend/segment to read CVC words. WUS is not the only one that look for CVC words - many of the London schools do too.

@MyTwoDads but you are saying Kensington and Glendower do not (tend to) look for CVC words and sound blending, right? Yet you also said many London schools do. Can you square this?

Glendower will ask for CVC words. However, they may not worry too much if a girl can't read those types of words yet if they are exceeding in all other areas.
Whereas some of the more 'academic' schools will want to see signs of reading CVC words.
At the end of the day, you will need to help your child stand out from the crowd - particularly for schools like WUS that receive 500 applicants for only 32 places. Every point counts in these situations.

More 'academic' schools than Glendower?

One good age appropriate thing to to would be oral blending. Sound out words as part of a game to help your child understand that words are made up of sounds and that these sounds blend together.
E.g. Can you touch your ar-m? Can you h-o-p? Can you make a noise like a d-u-ck? You don’t have to restrict yourself to cvc words but you will be building the skill that will allow your child to blend easily when you go back to looking at cvc words.
Also worth spending time on pictures or sets of objects and recognising all the ones that start with a certain letter and again oral blending for your child : e.g. I’ve spotted s-ea, s-a-n-d.
All the phonics schemes include oral blending as this is the pattern making the brain needs to understand before it does this with written sounds.

The above skills are tested in Reception baseline assessments in state schools so there is clearly research out there that suggests this is a good predictor of academic success. It is noticeable that children who can do this are also the ones that learn to read quickly and easily.

Look OP I get it, I’m a pushy parent too 😆 (but not rich enough or near to any schools who do a 4+ exam). But honestly, phonics summer camp?? As if 3 year olds will focus all day on learning sounds?

I did teach my child to read at 3.5 (I’m a teacher) but she was at a nursery that taught a sound each week in preschool year (which I don’t think your child is in yet) which helped and she was keen, and we just did a few minutes a day, then once she could blend we did a book each evening before bed for 10 mins.

Yes she is a fantastic reader now in y2, but she was bored in R and y1 as the school didn’t differentiate at all. She got wordless books for half a term in reception, then books with CVC words for months, by which time she was reading chapter books at home. It wasn’t until half way through y2 she brought home reading books vaguely near the level she could read at.

from what others have said actual reading isn’t required for the 4+ anyway.

and yes, it is amazing how quickly they start actually reading once they start learning. The order of teaching is planned carefully to make sure this happens.

Yes when starting reception she could only recognise letters/phonics but could not read, where now near the end of the year and in final term and she’s able to read short books. I’d say after second term she was able to blend most 3-4 letter words. Reading is a big focus for schools they practice daily and at home before bed we read one short phonic style book each evening.

I am rather surprised the progression from sound blending to reading sentences is that short

That's why Reception is such a rewarding year group to teach. Many arrive not even knowing all their single letters and they leave by being able to read a sentence! A good majority will be on books that have one, maybe 2 sentences per page (we're not talking Harry Potter just yet lol) but don't forget that some wont be. They may need lots more consolidation and repeating of the digraphs before they get to this - plus learning the high frequency/tricky words.

When I said 'more academic schools' I usually mean the big all through schools like Highgate, NLCS, Alleyn's, WUS etc. That's all.

There are great YouTube videos, the readwriteink ones are good. I did these in lockdown.
but honestly at 3.5 is a bit ridiculous. They do all this in reception

I don’t have any experience of 4+ so can’t comment on that, but generally it’s unnecessary to teach this so young.
If you have time but no expertise then you could look into the resources aimed at home educating families. “All about reading " is a from an American publisher and gets very good reviews.

After all single letter sounds, it should be CH/SH/CK etc graphemes. How about after graphemes? sound blending? I am trying to have a path at home to get my little one up to CVC words over the summer.

Why?
There is an excellent explanation of how reading is taught in EY/KS1. If your child is a natural reader, they won't really need that incremental teaching, they will join in with reading familiar books together, come to understand that the same grouping of letters always says the same word and begin to pick up books and 'read' the story from memory. Early readers often pick up an unfamiliar book tell themselves the story from the pictures maybe picking out familiar words. Early readers can go to the supermarket and pick out the brands that the family uses.
If your child isn't yet interested in reading, please don't try to force the process Reception class is plenty soon enough if you don't want a reluctant reader on your hands all through Primary school. Imo, as a very experienced EY/KS1 teacher, with extra qualifications in recognising and teaching children and adults with Dyslexia, phonics teaching is useful for children who struggle to read and for teaching spelling rules but not much use to natural readers.
Hot-housing is of no use to any child.

@javaprogrammer do not worry about digraphs - they are not needed for the 4+ assessments and there are none in CVC words anyway. Just stick to single letter sounds in lowercase only.

For those saying 'why are you doing this?' and 'just wait until reception' - I do agree, but for parents sitting the 4+ assessments, schools do ask the single letter sounds and many schools will check CVC words too (this I don't agree with) which means you need to get ahead of the curve for winter when the assessments are held. Nurseries will typically start single letters in September and it's one per week. Parents applying for the 4+ just need to do their research so they know what the expectations are so they don't 'over prepare' their child.

The should/shouldn't 4+ debate is for another time and another thread 😆

@MyTwoDads SHip and DuCK consist of digraphs?