1. Phonics & Reading Evening

2. What is phonics?
Phonics is the link between letters and the sounds that they make.
We teach this through a structured programme which works through six progressive phases (Letters and Sounds)
Children are taught:
The full range of common letter/ sound correspondences
To hear separate sounds within words
To blend sounds together

3. What are speech sounds?
Although there are 26 letters in the English alphabet there are more than 40 speech sounds.
Children should learn each letter by its sound, not its name. For instance, the letter a should be called a (as in ant) not ai (as in aim).  Similarly, the letter n should be nn (as in net), not en. This will help in blending. The names of each letter can follow later.

4. Jolly Phonics Teaches the main 42 sounds of the English language
The sounds are split into 7 groups
Includes synthetic phonics where 2 (or more) letters make one sound e.g. ee and or (these are called digraphs)
Also includes digraphs were the same letters can make different sounds e.g. oo in look and in moon
Each sound has an action which helps children remember the letter(s) that represent it.

5. The Phases Phase One (Nursery & Early Rec.)
Phase one comprises of seven aspects.
Aspect One: Environmental Sounds
Aspect Two: Instrumental Sounds
Aspect Three: Body Percussion
Aspect Four: Rhythm and Rhyme
Aspect Five: Alliteration
Aspect Six: Voice Sounds
Aspect Seven:
Oral Blending - Hearing a series of spoken sounds and merging (blending) them together to make a spoken word. (b/u/s)
and segmenting – splitting a word up into sounds.

6. The Phases
Phase Two
By the end of phase two children should be able to read some vc (it, at) and cvc (cat, pin) words.
Children will also learn to read the words ‘the, to, go, I and no.’
Five sets of letters are introduced – at a rate of approximately one set per week.
Set 1: s, a, t, p Set 2: i, n, m, d Set 3: g, o, c, k Set 4: ck, e, u, r Set 5: h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss

7. The Phases Phase Three (This is where we are currently working)
The children are taught another 25 graphemes
They continue to blend (for reading) and segment (for writing) CVC words
Children will then use this knowledge to blend and segment two syllable words.
Set 6: j, v, w, x
Set 7: y, z, zz, qu
Consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng
Vowel digraphs: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er

8. The Phases
Phases 4, 5 and 6
These phases are generally taught in Year 1 and Year 2 and build upon the knowledge and understanding the children have gained in the first 3 phases.

9. What you can do to help?
Familiarise yourself with jolly phonics and the sounds different letters make (see links)
Be careful with the pronunciation of some of the sounds (see video)
Reinforce the children’s learning in school by encouraging your child to sound out as they are reading and writing.

10. What can you do to help?
Build on your child’s curiosity and interest in reading when you’re out and about.
Ask your child questions about what they have read to aid their comprehension
Read both school reading books and other books they enjoy as often as you can.
The words your child brings home on their key ring are ‘high frequency words’ (the most popular words that appear in the books) and the children need to practise both reading and writing these where possible.

11. Early Learning Goals
These are the goals which the children will be assessed against at the end of the year. Children are assessed in the following areas:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Physical Development
Communication and Language
Literacy
Mathematics
Expressive Arts
Knowledge and Understanding of the world
We will also assess the pupils’ progress in phonics to ensure smooth transition into Year One.

12. Reading Early Learning Goal
Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.

13. Writing Early Learning Goal
Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

14. Useful Resources
(This is the Jolly phonics website with lots of useful information, including videos which show correct pronunciation of the sounds and the corresponding actions)
(This website has lots of phonics games – some are free some require a subscription)
(This website has lots of information about each phase of phonics and links to different games)
If there you have any questions or require any more information please let me know.