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Phonics

Phonics Information for Parents

“Being able to read is the most important skill children will learn during their early schooling and has far-reaching implications for lifelong confidence and well-being.”

Annabel Cooper is the Phonics Lead in school.  

What is Phonics?

  • Phonics is the link between letters and the sounds they make.
  • Learning Phonics will help your child to become a good reader and writer.
  • Every child in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 have a daily Phonic session.
  • Phonics is taught through a daily fast paced 20 minute session.
  • Schools follow the ‘Monster Phonics' planning document.

There are six phases which the children work through at their own pace.

Important tips—

  • When reading and spelling use the sound the letter makes rather than the letter name.
  • Always say the ‘pure sound’ by trying not to emphasise an ’uh’ at the end of a sound. For example ‘mmm’ not ‘muh’.
  • When spelling encourage your child to think about what looks right. For example a good attempt at spelling the word ‘castle’ would be ‘casul’.

At Spalding Parish Church of England Day School we follow the Monster Phonics programme which consists of six phases. An outline of these Phases can be found below:

Monster Phonics Information for Parents

Phase 1

Phase 1 concentrates on developing children's speaking and listening skills. Children are encouraged to hear rhyme in words, identify initial sounds and blend sounds together orally.

Oral blending is key; children need to practise hearing a series of spoken sounds and merging them together to make a word. For example, you say ‘b-u-s’, and your child says ‘bus’.

Phase 2

In Phase 2, letters and their sounds are introduced one at a time. A set of letters is taught each week, in the following sequence:

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

Children should be able to blend and read decodable real and pretend words containing these sounds such as

i-n           w-u-ck             b-o-ss        p-o-ck

Children are also introduced to tricky words.  These are the words that cannot be read by decoding sounds and they must be learnt to read on sight. 

The tricky words in Phase 2 are:

the

to

no

go

I

Phase 3

The following sounds are taught in Phase 3 -

Consonant digraphs (two letters one sound): ch, sh, th, ng

Vowel digraphs(two letters one sound)/trigraphs(three letters one sound): ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er

qu

quick

ai

wait

oo

moon

oi

soil

ch

chop

ee

meet

ar

car

ear

hear

sh

shop

igh

light

or

corn

air

hair

th

thick

oa

goat

ur

burn

ure

pure

ng

ring

oo

book

ow

cow

er

term

The tricky words in Phase 3 are:

he

she

we

me

be

was

you

they

all

are

my

her

Phase 4

In Phase 4 children will learn to read and write polysyllabic words e.g. computer, shampoo.

They will learn to read and write words with adjacent consonants. For example:

CVCC        tent   pink

CCVC        crab  plan

CCVCC     crept  shrimp

The tricky words in Phase 4 are:

 said

have

like

so

out

do

some

come

were

what

there

little

one

when

 

Phase 5

The following sounds are taught in Phase 5 -

ay

day

ir

girl

ew

new

i_e

like

ou

out

ue

blue

oe

toe

o_e

home

ie

tie

aw

saw

au

launch

u_e

rude

ea

eat

wh

when

a_e

make

   

oy

toy

ph

photo

e_e

these

   

*a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e and u_e are known as split digraphs

 The tricky words in Phase 5 are:

oh

asked

again

because

their

could

thought

different

people

should

through

any

Mr

would

work

eyes

Mrs

water

mouse

friends

looked

where

many

once

called

who

laughed

please

Phase 6

Phase 6 focuses on spellings and learning rules for spelling alternatives. Children learn rules for making words plural and past tense.

Don’t Forget :

  • Look at your child’s Sound Book every week.
  • Hear your child read as often as possible and sign their Reading Ramble (at least twice a week).
  • Reading should be fun for both children and parents.
  • A fun ten minutes is more valuable than a difficult half an hour!