Phonics

Our Vision and Aims for Phonics

Phonics is an essential ingredient in learning to read. Phonics is a method of teaching children to read and write by demonstrating the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters or groups of letters (graphemes) or syllables of the written language. Teaching children to blend the sounds represented by letters together helps them decode unfamiliar or unknown words by sounding them out. For example, when a child is taught the sounds for the letters t, p, a and s, they can start to build up the words: “tap”, “taps”, “pat”, “pats” and “sat”. 

At Olive Hill, we prioritise teaching reading systematically early on: children in Foundation Stage and in Key Stage One take part in phonics sessions every day from the time they start in reception. Phonics at Olive Hill is taught following the Little Wandle programme which is a DfE validated scheme. In nursery, children participate in Phase 1 activities which support children to develop their speaking and listening skills. These are essential foundations for reading and writing. In reception and key stage one, phonics is taught daily in sessions lasting 25-30 minutes. Each lesson provides the opportunity to revisit previously learned skills, practise oral blending and learn new phonemes/graphemes to read and spell new words.

Phonics assessments are every half term in reception and year one. In the summer term, year one children will sit the Phonics Screening Check.

Phonics Curriculum

The document below outlines the skills and knowledge that will be taught across reception and year one.

How can I support my child to read using phonics?

Follow the link below to the parents’ section of the Little Wandle website. Here you will find further information to support your child with their phonics at home.

Phonics Screening Check

All children in England sit a statutory phonics screening check at the end of year one to confirm that they have learned phonic decoding to an age-appropriate standard. The check contains a mix of real words and ‘non-words’ or ‘pseudo-words’ (sometimes known as ‘nonsense/alien words’). Children will be told before the check that there will be non-words that they will not have seen before. Many children will be familiar with this because many schools already use ‘non-words’ when they teach phonics. ‘Non-words’ are important to include because words such as ‘vap’ or ‘jound’ are new to all children. Children cannot read the ‘non-words’ by using their memory or vocabulary; they have to use their decoding skills which are needed every time they encounter an unfamiliar word when they read.

You can access past phonics screening papers by clicking the below link.

If you have any questions about what your child is learning in phonics, please speak to your child’s teacher.