Phonics
Phonics at Grange Primary School
Phonics is a way of teaching children to read and write.
Children in EYFS and in Key Stage One are taught phonics every day. In every session the children are taught a new phoneme (sound) and the skills to be able to read and write words containing the phoneme. At Grange Primary School we use the DfE Letters and Sounds Programme.
In every session children are also taught non decodable words where the words are recognised by sight and repetition. The sessions have a clear teaching sequence and the children take part in lots of games and activities to embed to phonemes.
Reading at home daily will help your child significantly in this area as the books the children bring home are linked to the phonemes they are being taught in school.
We supplement our stock of reading books from a range of publishers so children are immersed in a wide range of reading material. They read a variety of fiction and non fiction texts which sometimes also link with English topics.
Year One Phonics Screening Check
Every June in Year 1, children across England take part in the Phonics Screening Check. In the test the children apply their phonic knowledge by reading forty words all containing the phonemes they have been taught. Twenty of the words are real words while the other twenty are ‘nonsense’ words.
The test is a good indicator of their phonic understanding which underpins their early reading.
Children do have an opportunity to retake the Phonics Test in Year 2 if they do not pass it in Year 1. Those children are also given additional support throughout Year 2 to be able to access this test.
Useful Websites
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/5-7-years/letters-and-sounds
http://www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html
https://www.readwithphonics.com
http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/phase-2-games.html