Phonics

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At St Mary’s we learn our phonics in a fun and active way. We have 20 minutes phonics sessions every day and enhance this further by splitting our EYFS and KS1 classes into smaller groups, so all children can have focused and targeted support to help them achieve their best.

Our phonics is also linked to our Reading scheme in EYFS and KS1, so children have the opportunity to practice the sounds they have learnt in real books, creating a love for reading.

Phonics is the systematic teaching of the sounds, or ‘phonemes’, that accompany the written letters (‘graphemes’) in English. It is designed to teach children to become confident and fluent readers by the end of KS1, (Year 2). At St Mary’s, we follow ‘Letters and Sounds’, published by the Department for Education. It is broken down into 6 parts, or ‘phases’ which can be seen in the drop down table below:

Phase 1

Phase 1 is completed in Nursery and focuses on sounds in the environment, instrumental sounds, body sounds, voice sounds and rhythm.

Phase 2

Phase 2 begins in Reception. Children are taught 19 letters of the alphabet along with the sound that goes with them.

Phase 3

Phase 3 is also started in Reception. During this phase, the remaining 7 letters of the alphabet and their sounds are taught. Digraphs (where two letters make one sound) eg. /sh/ and /ch/ are taught in this phase for the remaining sounds in the English language.

Phase 4

During Phase 4, children are taught to segment (break down) and blend (read fluently) longer words. Phase 4 is a chance for children to practise and apply the phonics skills they have already learnt.

Phase 5

Phase 5 is taught throughout Year 1 and focuses on different ways of spelling the same sound eg. /oi/ and /oy/ and different ways of pronouncing the graphemes they already know eg. /ear/ in ‘hear’ and /ear/ in ‘bear’.

Phase 6

Phase 6 is taught throughout Year 2. This phase focuses on consolidating all of the other phases, as well as introducing ‘rules’ for reading and spelling, such as prefixes, suffixes and when to double or drop a letter.

How to help your child at home

You can support your child at home by: asking them the sounds they are learning in school; reading their reading books with them so they can practise and apply their sounds; encouraging them to use the sounds they have learnt in their writing.

If you would like to hear what the individual sounds sound like, please watch the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjJYB07aSU

In addition, we also run parent workshops on phonics, please see your class teacher to find out when your next phonics workshop is.

Curriculum Expectations

If you would like any further information on phonics and the six phases of teaching, please read: