Phonics

Intent

At Beeston Primary School we value reading as a key life skill and are dedicated to enabling our children to become lifelong readers. We recognise that mastery in phonics is fundamental to children being able to access a broad range of fiction and non-fiction texts across the curriculum. We aim to achieve this through:

– Use of a high-quality, systematic, synthetic phonics programme (Floppy’s Phonics), followed with rigour and fidelity.

– A systematic approach to the teaching of phonics from entry to school at 3 years of age, with the expectation that pupils will be fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One.

– Regular access to high quality phonic teaching which secures the crucial skills of word recognition that enables children to read fluently, freeing them to concentrate on the meaning of the text.

– Enjoying a multi-sensory approach to learning phonics ensuring that the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning styles of children are engaged.

– Ensuring children have the cultural capital and experiences to become engrossed and immersed in reading.

Implementation

Phonics at Beeston Primary School follows the Floppy’s Phonics scheme. This allows our phonics teaching and learning to be progressive from Nursery up to Year 2 as well as allowing children’s listening and speaking skills to develop. Phonics is taught through whole class teaching in reception. Children, who are in KS1 are taught each day in streamed groups, according to their ability which is assessed each half term. Careful assessment ensures that teachers are aware of each individual’s needs and where extra intervention is necessary, this is provided.

Here are some of the terms you may come across in our phonics work:

vowels – the open sounds / letters of the alphabet: a,e,i,o and u

consonants – sounds/ letters of the alphabet that are not vowels.

blend – to merge individual sounds together to pronounce a word, e.g. s-n-a-p, blended together, reads snap

cluster – two (or three) letters making two (or three) sounds, e.g. the first three letters of ‘straight’ are a consonant cluster

digraph – two letters making one sound, e.g. sh, ch, th, ph.

vowel digraphs – two vowels which, together, make one sound, e.g. ai, oo, ow

split digraph – two letters, split, making one sound, e.g. a-e as in make or i-e in site

grapheme – letter or a group of letters representing one sound, e.g. sh, ch, igh, ough (as in ‘though’)

mnemonic – a device for memorising and recalling something, such as a snake shaped like the letter ‘S’

phoneme– the smallest single identifiable sound, e.g. the letters ‘sh‘ represent just one sound, but ‘sp‘ represents two (/s/ and /p/)

segment (vb) – to split up a word into its individual phonemes in order to spell it, e.g. the word ‘cat’ has three phonemes: /c/, /a/, /t/

Support for Parents:

This video will help you with the correct pronunciation of the letter sounds Phonics Play Letters and Sounds lessons Example Year One screening test

Floppy’s Phonics

Synthetic phonics teaching (using the Floppy’s Phonics scheme) is taught on a daily basis in EYFS and Key Stage One to support reading and writing. The definition of ‘synthetic phonics’ is an accelerated form of phonics where children are taught all letter sounds very quickly after starting school. This method of teaching continues throughout Key Stage One, where children continue to extend their learning to using digraphs and trigraphs.

Below is a link to a video which demonstrates how to pronounce the sounds taught in phonics lessons:

In Key Stage Two, spelling forms an integral part of literacy teaching. The focus is on children making accurate spelling choices and applying these to their work. Children who require further support with their spelling/phonics are able to access a range of intervention groups suitable for their individual needs.

READING FOR ENJOYMENT

Each classroom has a reading area/display. This area promotes a love of reading and encourages children to be actively involved in writing book reviews and selecting books for their peers to enjoy. Throughout the week children will have the opportunity to access this area.

Spellings

As part of the new National Curriculum children are expected to learn compulsory lists of spellings. Through learning spelling rules and by looking at word meanings, it is expected that all children will be able to spell these words by the time they leave KS2.

In addition, there are two sets of high frequency words which are taught in KS1. By the beginning of Year 3 all children should be able to spell the words on these lists.

These words can be viewed using the links below. We hope this will give you a clear understanding of what we expect in terms of progress and achievement in spelling through KS2.

First 100 high frequency words Next 200 high frequency wordsYear 3/4/5/6 word lists