The importance of phonics in year 1 Supporting your child’s learning at home

Phonics: The Learning Journey S a t p i n Two letters that make one sound: ow Three letters that make one sound: igh in night When a bossy letter splits up a digraph. For example snake When ‘c’ makes the alternative sound in ice. Phonics: The Learning Journey Digraphs and trigraphs Split digraphs Alternative spellings and sounds Single Sounds *Phonics is mainly taught as whole class. Interventions and guided reading will focus on where your child is at in the journey.*

Phonics Screening Check The National Phonics Screening Check is a statutory assessment introduced in 2012 for children in Year 1. This year it will take place throughout the week of 11th June 2018. The check is a list of 40 words using a range of sounds that the children have learnt. Some of them are real and some of them are nonsense/alien. For example chip and chaizz. The children are encouraged to sound out every word and blend the words back together. It is important that the children sound out every word so that they do not miss key letters. The check will take place with Miss Miskowicz or another known adult in the key stage. It is very similar to the activities that take place during daily phonics sessions. It is a useful tool in identifying children who have difficulty in sounding out words. This will then ensure that the children are given the necessary skills and support in year 2. Children who do not pass the test this year will receive addition support in year 2 when they retake the test.

How can you support your child with phonics? *Using phonics as the first approach to reading- sounding out unknown words. Saying ‘p’ not ‘puh’. *Using sound buttons to sound out words. This really encourages children to spot the digraphs and split digraphs. chug night cow *Regularly recapping the sounds in the Phonics Folders. Making sure these are brought to school in their book bags every day! Please let us know if there is a particular sound that your child is struggling with. We can provide things to help with this 

Understanding of Reading As the children's phonetic fluency develops we can then begin to focus on their reading comprehension. We can begin to ask more complex questions such as… ‘How do you know the character is feeling cross?’, ‘Which word describes the weather?’. Reading takes place throughout the day and across the curriculum in addition to Phonics, guided reading and some individual 1 to 1 reading opportunities. Guided reading takes place with all children on a weekly basis, after Christmas. The children read a text together, alongside a teaching assistant or a teacher. They think about questions and find evidence within the text. The children then complete a follow up activity based on the text which they have read. Guided reading may not always be recorded within the children's yellow reading record. Please take a the question sheet with you today. Question sheets for your child’s reading colour band will be put into their yellow reading records which you can use.

Early writing As the children's phonic and reading comprehension continues to develop, so does their writing! We are very proud of the progress which they have made. For the remainder of the year we will continue to build upon sentence structure skills. Such as….. capital letters phonics finger spaces full stops We will begin to build upon the use of ?, !, connectives and adjectives. We are now encouraging children to have a go at using entry flicks to their letters. Whilst it can make handwriting a little bigger to start with it (because of the curves and joins) it really does lift children’s presentation. They are thoroughly enjoying the challenge in the mornings.

Upcoming dates… School photos tomorrow. Our WOW day on Friday November 17th. Parent meetings after half term.

Questions…