Phonics

We begin teaching phonics in Nursery through to Year 2 using the Little Wandle scheme. The children learn how to read the sounds (phonemes) in words and how these sounds can be written down (graphemes).

We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters, using pictures and saying phrases related to the pictures.

As the children progress, the sounds become more complex and contain two letters (diagraphs) these sounds are sh, ch, th, ay, ar, oo or three letters (trigraphs) air, igh, ear, ure.

Information on the sounds we teach can be found on the Little Wandle videos…

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

Terminology

Phoneme – is smallest unit of sound in a word (spoken sound)
Grapheme – is the way the sound is written e.g. m-oo-n
Blend – putting sounds together to read a word
Segment – splitting a word into individual sounds to write

Pure Sounds

Remember to use pure sounds – no uh on the end! This will help children to blend sounds together more easily. Follow the link below for a guide on how they should sound:

Phonics Pronunciation Guide

Phonic screening check

What is the Phonics Screening Check?                                                       

• It is a quick check of your child’s phonics knowledge for pupils in Year 1.
• It is not designed to create any stress or anxiety for your child.
• It assesses decoding skills using phonics.
• It consists of 40 words (20 real words, 20 ‘alien words’).

‘Alien words’

• Alien words assess children’s decoding skills and are used in lessons for the purpose of preparing for the Phonics Screening Check only.
• Children cannot read these words by using their memory or known vocabulary, so they have to use their decoding skills. This is a fair way to assess their ability to decode.

If children do not achieve the required score in Year 1, they will retake the screening at the end of Year 2.

Guidance-for-Parents-The-Phonics-Screening-Check

We often have Parent workshops and are happy to talk to you about how you can help your child at home.

If you have any questions, please speak to Miss Willenger (Phonics Leader), Mrs Chilton (EYFS Leader) or your class teacher.