Phonics
What is phonics and how is it taught?
Here at HCCPS we teach daily phonics lessons in EYFS, KS1 and to some pupils in KS2.
Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language. Teaching children to blend the sounds of 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”. Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they’re combined will help children decode words as they read. Understanding phonics will not only allow children to read but will also help them know which letters to use when they are writing words. Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters. For example, the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck or ch. At our school we teach phonics using the Letter and Sounds programme in all year groups.
Phonics Jargon Buster:
Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound in a word eg cat c-a-t has 3 phonemes and so does ship sh-i-p
Grapheme: A letter or group of letter representing one sound eg a, ch, igh
Blend: This is often known as 'sounding out' and it is when you put sounds together to read a word.
Segment: To split up a word into its individual phonemes in order to spell it.
Digraph: Two letters making one sound eg sh, ch, th
Vowel Digraph: Two vowels that make one sounds e.g ou, ai, oa
Trigraph: Three letters making one sound eg igh, ure, ear
Spit digraph: Two letters, split, making one sound eg a-e as in make
CVC word: a word with a consonant sound followed by a vowel sound and then a final consonant sounds
Online daily phonics lessons
The government have now launched online daily phonics lessons for reception and year 1 children. Please use the link below to access these lessons. They follow the same programme as our school so it will match your child's previous learning.
Phoneme mats (great to have as a reference when reading or writing to segment words)
How to help with phonics at home
The best way to support your child with their phonetic development is to read their school book that changes each week. It is matched to suit their individual needs and runs alongside what they are learning in their phonics lesson. In addition to reading their leveled colour banded book you can also access a range of fun games via this website:
Username: Hardwick_cambourne
Password: phonics
Another great way to help your children learn phonics is via Alphablocks, the link below gives parents a quick guide to help at home.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/the-alphablocks-guide-to-phonics
Another fun way to learn new sounds is with Geraldine the Giraffe- see link below:
https://www.youtube.com/user/breakthruchris
Please also look at the videos below to support your child at home