Phonics and early reading.
What is phonics?
Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully. They are taught how to:
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Recognise the sounds that individual letters make
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Identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make-such as 'sh' or 'oo'
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Blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word
Children can then use this knowledge to 'decode' new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.
The children are taught to read words by blending, which means pushing all the sounds together to make a word. The children are taught to spell words by segmenting, which means sounding out words and writing down the sounds they can hear.
By the end of Reception children are expected to be secure in Phase 4. By the end of Year One children are expected to be secure in Phase 5. When finishing Key Stage One, most children should be secure in National Curriculum Year 2 Spelling expectations.
At Cherryfold, we place a strong emphasis on the teaching of phonics in the early years of reading and writing in order to give all children a solid foundation for learning. Because not all words in the English language comply to the rules of phonics we also teach so-called ‘sight words’ by repetition and retrieval.
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| 1.Leading the Implementation of Red Rose Letters and Sounds.pdf | Download |
The Teaching of Phonics
At Cherry Fold, phonics is taught daily to all children in Reception and Key Stage One. We follow the Red Rose Letters and Sounds systematic, synthetic phonics planning programme (Lancashire Professional Development Service) using the Letters and Sounds approach.
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| 3. RR trajectories R and Y1.pdf | Download |
Practicing Phonics at Home
The best phonics resources are ordinary reading books. Alongside the books your child brings home seek out books that you and your child enjoy reading. Discuss words that present a challenge, breaking them down into their component sounds in order to read them if necessary. Make sure you set aside quiet time for reading and enjoying books together.
Play fun games with your child such as thinking of words that rhyme. Your child will receive a word fan displaying ‘high-frequency words’ – common words that appear very often in written texts. They are a mixture of decodable words (words that can be sounded out) and sight words/exception words (words in which the English spelling code works in an unusual or uncommon way, which means the words have to be learned and recognised by sight). The expectation is that by the end of Reception children should be able to read most of these words, and by the end of Year 1 they should be able to spell most of them. Try to practice one word with your child from the list per day.
Phonics games at home!
Look, cover, write, check - https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/lcwc/index.html
Phonics play - https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources
Top Marks - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/5-7-years/letters-and-sounds
Phonics Bloom - https://www.phonicsbloom.com/
The Phonics Screening Check
During the Summer term in Year 1, children nationwide are tested on their phonic knowledge. This test helps us to identify children who have gaps in their phonic knowledge and may need further support in Year 2. The test is low-key and we endeavour to make it stress-free for the children. Essentially, the children are asked to read 40 words from a list, using their phonics to ‘sound out’ the word and then blend it if they need to. Parents are informed as to whether their child has achieved the national expectation within the child’s end-of-year report.
Why phonics?
Research shows that when phonics is taught in a structured way-starting with the easiest sounds and progressing to the most complex-it is the most effective way of teaching young children to read. It is particularly helpful for children aged 5 to 7 years old. Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills that they need to tackle new words. Children can go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and read for enjoyment (Department for Education).
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| 2. Assessment and and Progression Red Rose Letters and Sounds.pdf | Download |
Phonics in action!
