1. Letters and Sounds Phonics information for Parents October 2012

2. Phonics Consists of: Identifying sounds in spoken words Recognising the common spellings of each phoneme Blending phonemes into words for reading Segmenting words into phonemes for spelling

3. Key Vocabulary A phoneme you hear This is the smallest unit of sound in a word A grapheme you see These are the letters that represent the phoneme

4. Digraph - 2 letters making one sound (ee in need) Trigraph - 3 letters making one sound (igh in night) Split digraph - Where the two letters are not adjacent ( a-e in cake)

5. Blending (for reading) Recognising the letter sounds in a written word e.g. c-u-p sh-ee-p Merging them into the correct order to pronounce the word cup and sheep

6. Segmenting (for spelling) Segment words into graphemes in order to write: E.g. sheep – sh-ee-p looking – l-oo-k-i-ng

7. Letters and Sounds Letters and Sounds is divided into six phases, with each phase building on the skills and knowledge of previous learning. Children have time to practise and rapidly expand their ability to read and spell words These phases are set out in the Letters and Sounds document The children often work in groups within the phase that is appropriate to their level of learning

8. Phase 1 To develop children’s listening skills and awareness of sounds in the environment To experience and develop awareness of sounds made with instruments and noise makers To develop awareness of sounds and rhythms To develop awareness of rhythm and rhyme in speech To develop understanding of alliteration To distinguish between the differences in vocal sounds, including oral blending and segmenting

9. Phase 2 Set 1 - s, a, t, p, Set 2 - i, n, m, d, Set 3 - g, o, c, k, Set 4 - ck, e, u, r, Set 5 - h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss, Blending for reading and segmenting for spelling simple cvc words

10. Reading Phase 2 words himsockpuff sellpassdog

11. Phase 3 Letter Progression: Set 6 - j, v, w, x Set 7 - y, z, zz, qu Graphemes: ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er

12. Phase 3 continued Reading and spelling a wide range of cvc words Practising blending for reading and segmentation for spelling words containing digraphs and trigraphs

13. Reading Phase 3 words shoprain boat cowdearcorner

14. Phase 4 This is a consolidation unit. There are no new graphemes to learn Practising blending for reading and segmentation for spelling CVCC (tent) and CCVC (from) words

15. Phase 5 Graphemes: ay, ou, ie, ea, oy, ir, ue, aw, wh, ph, ew, oe, au, a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e Alternative pronunciation of graphemes: i, o, c, g, u, ow, ie, ea, er, a, y, ch, ou For example ow in cow and blow

16. Phase 5 continued Teaching alternative spellings for phonemes j = dge in fudge and hedge n = kn in knit and knot

17. Pseudo words Pseudo words are nonsense words. We often call these ‘alien words’ in school We practise reading these in school to assess grapheme recognition and blending skills For example: pim; dar; shreb; whemp

18. Phase 6 Recognising phonic irregularities and becoming more secure with less common grapheme – phoneme correspondences Applying phonic skills and knowledge to recognise and spell an increasing number of complex words

19. Phase 6 continued Introducing and teaching the past tense Investigating and learning how to add suffixes. For example -ing, -ed, -er, -est Finding and learning the difficult bits in words

20. Tricky words and HFW In addition to this, each week the children learn ‘tricky’ spelling words (those that are not spelt phonetically) and high frequency words (HFW) Tricky words, for example he, she, we, me HFW, for example and, in, on

21. Supporting your child at home Enjoying a book together Using the sound mats in the weekly planner Practising spellings (KS1) Using magnetic letters Sound talking or robot talking ‘I spy a p-e-g’