Phonics

The school follows the Read Write Inc Phonics, which teaches children to ‘learn to read’ so they can then ‘read to learn’.  In the summer term, children in our Nursery are introduced to letter sounds and throughout the Reception year and KS1, they are exposed to new sounds until they are confident identifying all 44 phonemes.

Parents can support their children throughout the scheme by reading with their children every night and revising their speed sounds on a regular basis (link to speed sounds and pronunciation).

As children become more confident in recognizing the sounds they will begin to blend the sounds to form real words and nonsense words.

The link attached illustrates a range of real and nonsense words for each of the set 2 and set 3 sounds.  These are useful charts which will encourage children to use their phonic knowledge to decode a variety of words.

Set 2 Sounds

Set 3 Sounds

Children are encouraged to progress through the scheme at a rapid rate.  They will not necessarily need to cover every book in the scheme, and may be capable of accelerating through the scheme if they demonstrate a sound knowledge of words.

In every year band, children are set according to ability and assessments are conducted every 6-8 weeks.  As a result of these assessments, children may move up or down into a new setting group.  An example of the assessment is here.

The national phonic test is administered to pupils in Year 1 in June.  On average, pupils need to be able to read 32 of the 40 words in order to pass the test.  If they are able to read all set 1,2,3 sounds, they are likely to pass the test.  If they score below 32, they will need to repeat the test in Year 2.