Our approach to Phonics
Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds. It is recommended as the first strategy that children should be taught to help them learn to read. Phonics runs alongside other teaching methods to help children develop vital reading skills and give them a real love of reading, hopefully for life.
At Meadow Farm Community Primary School, pre-reading skills are taught using an accredited systematic synthetic phonics scheme (SSP). We are using ‘Little Wandle’ to support our children to make the first step in their reading journey. Little Wandle provides high-quality, consistent resources and materials to ensure phonics is taught effectively for all children.
The children are taught within the phase appropriate to their level of development (there are 6 phases across the programme, spanning Nursery through to Year 2). The phonemes (sounds) are systematically taught before the children are shown how to blend them for reading and segment them for writing.
There are 44 phonemes in English which the children must learn. When a sound is written, it is known as a grapheme. Alongside this, the children are taught high-frequency words and tricky words (those that do not follow standard phonic rules). At the end of Year 1, children complete the Phonic Screening Check, required by the Government to assess their progress. Staff receive regular phonics training, enabling them to deliver engaging, interactive sessions that motivate children.
As reading is the key to learning, it is important that we teach phonics clearly and systematically, learning the initial sounds first before progressing to the different ways sounds can be represented in the English language.
Overview of Phonic Phases
Phase One
Supports the importance of speaking and listening and develops children’s discrimination of sounds, including letter sounds. This phase is split into 7 aspects-
- Aspect 1 – Environment sound discrimination
- Aspect 2- Instrumental sound discrimination
- Aspect 3- Body percussion sound discrimination
- Aspect 4- Rhythm and rhyme
- Aspect 5- Alliteration
- Aspect 6- Voice sounds
- Aspect 7- Oral blending and segmenting
These aspects are crucial in providing the children with the best start on their phonics journey. We need children to be able to discriminate between different sounds and images before they are ready to recognise graphemes in Phase 2.
Phase Two
The children learn to pronounce the sounds themselves in response to letters, before blending them. This leads to them being able to read simple words and captions.
Phonemes: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss
Tricky Words: the, to, I, no, go
Phase Three
Completes the teaching of the alphabet and moves on to sounds represented by more than one letter. The children will learn letter names and how to read and spell some tricky words.
Phonemes: j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, er
Tricky Words: put* pull*, full*, as, and, has, his, her, go, no, to, into, she, push* he, of, we, me, be
Phase Four
The children learn to read and spell words containing adjacent consonants.
Tricky Words: said, so, have, like, some, come, love, were, there, little, one, do, when, out, what, here, says, today, out, one
Phase Five
The children broaden their knowledge of sounds for use in reading and spelling. They will begin to build word-specific knowledge of the spellings of words.
Phonemes:
|
/ai/ a-e, a ay cake paper play |
/ee/ e, ie, e-e, ea , y, ey see he shield here sea funny donkey |
/igh/ ie, i, i-e , y high pie hi time fly |
/oa/ o, o-e, ou, ow, oe soap go bone shoulder snow toe |
/oo/ ew, u-e, ue, ou, ui zoo stew cute unicorn blue fruit |
|
/ur/ ir, or, ear nurse dirt word learn |
/e/ ea bed head |
/w/ wh wet when |
/j/ g jug giant |
/f/ ph fix phone |
|
/l/ le, al leg apple metal |
/s/ c, se, ce, ss, st, sc sad ice mouse fence mess whistle science |
/v/ ve van have |
/u/ o-e, o, ou fun some mother young |
/z/ se, s, zz /s/ ze zip cheese logs buzz freeze |
|
/oo/ u, oul Book Awful Would |
/air/ are fair hare |
/or/ au, aur, oor, al, a for autumn dinosaur floor walk water |
/ch/ tch, ture chop watch adventure |
/ar/ al, a car calm father |
|
/o/ a hop want |
/air/ ear, ere hair bear there |
/r/ wr/ rr red wrist carry |
/c/ ch cat school |
/sh/ ch shop chef |
|
/ow/ ou cow loud |
/oi/ oy boil boy |
/ear/ eer ere clear deer here |
Phase Six
This focuses more sharply on word-specific spellings. It encourages children to become fluent readers and increasingly accurate spellers
Little Wandle Support Resources
Video: How to correctly pronounce our phonemes:
Reception- Autumn 1-Phase 2: https://youtu.be/-ZtjFIvA_fs
Reception- Autumn 2- Phase 2 Autumn 2: https://youtu.be/qDu3JAjf-U0
Reception- Spring 1- Phase 3: https://youtu.be/DvOuc7cWXxc
Video: How we teach:
A quick guide to alien words: https://youtu.be/VtoJZMVgy1I
How we teach tricky words: https://youtu.be/NTC0PbtmeUA
How we teach blending: https://youtu.be/IL5YUCPyC5I
Books coming home:
Supporting your child with reading
Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.
There are two types of reading book that your child may bring home:
A reading practice book. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently.
A sharing book. Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.
Reading practice book
This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.
Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.
Sharing book
In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together.
Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!