English Programme

At Castletara NS, we implement a structured early intervention approach in our English programme. This approach uses station-based learning, where different activity stations focus on key language skills to build a strong literacy foundation from an early age. Key components of this approach include:

  • Phonological awareness – identifying and working with sounds in spoken language.
  • Phonics – connecting sounds with letters (teaching letter-sound relationships).
  • Decodable readers – reading simple, phonics-based texts to build confidence and fluency.
  • Guided reading – small-group reading practice to develop comprehension and critical thinking skills.
  • Language games – interactive activities that make learning fun and engaging.
  • Letter formation – practising correct handwriting techniques.
  • Free writing – encouraging creative expression and building writing confidence.

Phonological Awareness in Junior Infants

Phonological awareness is a crucial pre-reading skill for early literacy success. In Junior Infants, we develop this skill before formal phonics instruction, using the seven aspects from the Letters and Sounds programme. These aspects help children recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken language, making the transition to phonics smoother and more effective. The seven aspects include:

  1. Environmental sounds – listening to and distinguishing everyday sounds (e.g., animal noises, traffic, household noises).
  2. Instrumental sounds – recognizing and differentiating sounds made by musical instruments and objects.
  3. Body percussion – using claps, stomps, and finger clicks to explore rhythm and sound patterns.
  4. Rhythm and rhyme – identifying rhyming words and recognizing rhythmic patterns in speech.
  5. Alliteration – noticing words that start with the same sound (e.g., big brown bear).
  6. Voice sounds – experimenting with different vocal sounds, including changes in pitch, tone, and volume.
  7. Oral blending and segmenting – blending individual sounds together to form words and breaking words into their separate sounds (e.g., hearing c-a-t and knowing it makes cat).

By practising these aspects, children become more aware of sounds in language, which lays a strong foundation for later phonics instruction.
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Phonics Programme

From Junior Infants to First Class, we follow a phased phonics programme to support early reading and spelling development. This structured programme introduces letter sounds in a systematic, step-by-step manner. Children learn to blend sounds for reading and segment sounds for spelling with increasing complexity. The phonics progression is as follows:

  • Junior Infants – Introduced to basic letter sounds in specific sets:
    • Set 1: s, a, t, p
    • Set 2: i, n, m, d
    • Set 3: g, o, c, k
    • Set 4: ck, e, u, r
    • Set 5: h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss
  • Senior Infants – Progress to more complex sounds:
    • Set 6: j, v, w, x
    • Set 7: y, z, zz, qu
    • Consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng
    • Vowel digraphs: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo; ar, or, ur; ow, oi; ear, air, ure, er
  • First Class – Phonics instruction expands to include:
    • New graphemes (letter combinations): ay, ou, ie, ea, oy, ir, ue, aw, wh, ph, ew, oe, au
    • Split digraphs (magic e): a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e, u_e

To reinforce this learning, we also use an online Fast Phonics programme. This provides interactive, engaging activities for children to practise their phonics skills at their own pace. The combination of in-class teaching and online support helps develop confident, fluent readers from an early age.
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Comprehension Strategies

Strong comprehension skills are taught through the Building Bridges of Understanding programme. This approach explicitly teaches key reading comprehension strategies that readers use to make sense of texts. The core comprehension strategies include:

  • Predicting
  • Visualising
  • Questioning
  • Clarifying
  • Making connections
  • Inferring
  • Determining importance
  • Synthesising

By using these strategies, students actively engage with what they read, improving their understanding and critical thinking skills.
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Writing Skills – 7 Step Approach

Writing skills are developed using a structured 7 Step Approach that guides students from exposure to a genre all the way to publishing their work. The steps are:

  1. Genre immersion – Reading and exploring examples of the genre.
  2. Modelled writing – The teacher demonstrates the writing process.
  3. Shared writing – Teacher and students compose text together.
  4. Guided writing – The teacher supports small groups of students.
  5. Independent writing – Students apply what they’ve learned.
  6. Editing and improving – Students revise their drafts.
  7. Publishing and sharing – Students present their finished work.

Students are taught to write across a variety of genres, including:

  • Recount
  • Report
  • Narrative
  • Procedure
  • Explanation
  • Persuasion
  • Poetry

Encouraging a Love for Reading

At Castletara NS, we actively promote a love for reading through various school-wide reading initiatives:

  • Paired reading at home (Infants – 1st Class) – Parents and children read together at home to build confidence and fluency.
  • Paired reading in school (Senior & Junior Pupils) – Older students mentor younger pupils by reading with them, fostering a sense of community and encouragement.
  • DEAR Time (Drop Everything And Read) – Dedicated time during the school day when everyone stops to read for pleasure.
  • Novel study in each class – Students explore a variety of novels at an age-appropriate level, enhancing comprehension and engagement with literature.
  • Library Book Fair – An annual event where students can explore and purchase books, encouraging reading beyond the classroom.
  • Readers Café – A relaxed reading environment where students can discuss books, share their favourites, and develop a love for storytelling.
  • Well-stocked classroom libraries – Every classroom is equipped with a diverse selection of books to ensure students always have access to engaging reading materials.

These initiatives create an environment where reading is valued, enjoyable, and part of daily life. Our goal is to instil a lifelong love for reading in all of our students.
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This structured, supportive approach ensures that all children — from Junior Infants to the senior classes — build a strong foundation in reading, writing, and comprehension, helping them to become confident and effective communicators.