Phonics
What is Phonics?
Phonics is a method of teaching children to read. Phonics works by breaking words down into it's individual sounds e.g. boat = b-oa-t. There are 44 different sounds in the English language. Learning to read with phonics is therefore a bit like learning a code, after learning just a few sounds, you will be able to use this code to read 100's of words. The more sounds you know, the more words you will be able to work out how to read.
Not all words are phonetically decode-able however, a select few words you need to learn through the 'sight words' method of learning to read. These are called 'tricky words' e.g. to, the, was. Your child will be encouraged to read these words by sight, after exploring what the regular and tricky bits are.
Your child will be using many new phonic words within their phonic learning. Please click here for a terminology sheet to support the use of these words at home.
How will my child progress their Phonic skills?
Your child's phonic journey will start as soon as your child starts school and goes through their Reception Year through to the end of Year 1. Every child is different and will progress their skills at different rates. For whatever reason, if needed, your child will be supported with their phonic skills through Year 2 and beyond.
Click here to view our Reception overview.
Click here to view our Year 1 overview.
Click here to view a combined overview.
How do we teach blending for reading?
How to say the sounds
It is most important that children pronounce the sounds clearly. To help you support your child with this, the following links are to film clips that demonstrate the correct way to say the letter sounds.
Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn Term 1
Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 2
Phase 3 sounds taught in Reception Spring 1
Phase 5 sounds taught in Year 1
How to write the sounds
In Reception, the children are taught to write letters using the print formation as they learn each new sound in phonics. They learn phrases that help them remember the correct formation. Click here to see the guidance on forming the letters (Autumn Term 1)
Click here to see the guidance on forming the letters (Autumn Term 2)
Click here to see the guidance on forming capital letters
In Key Stage 1 (Year 1 & 2), the children are taught to form letters using entry and exit strokes. Click here to see how to form these letters correctly.
How can I support at home?
You may find these sound (grapheme) mats helpful when supporting learning at home.
You may find some of these websites useful.
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
An overview and important information for parents about the scheme of learning we use. Some of the attached resources on this page are from here too.
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources
A selection of interactive games for all phonic phases. Some do not need a subscription.
A selection of interactive games for all phonic phases. Some do not need a subscription.
www.ictgames.com/literacy.html
A great selection of games.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zf2yf4j
Phase 2 Phonics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvq9bdm
Phase 3 Phonics