Phonics

⭐️Year 1 Phonics Activities ⭐️

What is phonics?

At Marsh Green, we teach phonics through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.

Our approach to early reading in Early Years, Year 1 and Year 2 follows the Little Wandle progression closely. This ensures children build strong foundations in reading and writing through a clear, systematic and consistent teaching sequence.

Through Little Wandle, children learn to:

recognise and say the sounds that letters represent (phonemes)
blend sounds together to read words
segment words to support spelling
develop fluency, accuracy and confidence in reading

Reading is at the heart of everything we do. Children take part in:

daily phonics lessons to teach new sounds and apply them in reading and writing
reading practice sessions using carefully matched books to their phonics stage
daily ‘Keep Up’ sessions to support any child who needs extra help to keep up with the pace of the programme

Key information for parents

Little Wandle also supports families at home. We encourage parents to:

read regularly with their child at home using their school reading book
practise blending sounds and recognising tricky words
support daily reading habits to build fluency and confidence

Our aim is for all children to become confident, fluent readers by the end of Year 2, giving them the strongest possible start to their learning journey.

Little Wandle - Support for Parents

Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 1

This Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 1 video is designed to be shared with families by schools using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to help them to support learning at home.

Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 2

This Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 2 video is designed to be shared with families to help them to support learning at home.

Phase 3 sounds taught in Reception Spring 1

This Phase 3 sounds taught in Reception Spring 1 video is designed to be shared with families to help them support the learning at home.

What is the Phonics Screening check?

The national phonics screening check was introduced in 2012 to all Year 1 pupils. It is a short, statutory assessment to ensure that children are making sufficient progress in the phonics skills to read words and are on track to become fluent readers who can enjoy reading for pleasure and for learning.

The Screening will take place the week of the 13th June 2016.

How is the check structured?

The check consists of a list of 40 words, half real words and half nonsense words, the nonsense words will be shown to your child with a picture of an alien. This not only makes the check a bit more fun, but provides the children with a context for the nonsense word which is independent from any existing vocabulary they may have.

Example of the check

Why are nonsense words included in the screening check?

•Nonsense words are an established assessment method of many schools, and are included in many phonics programmes. They are included because they will be new to all pupils, so there won’t be a bias to those with a good vocabulary knowledge or visual memory of words. This is a test of a child’s ability to decode using phonics. Children who can read non-words should have the skills to decode almost any unfamiliar word.

Why is it important?

We want all children to be fluent and passionate readers and therefore go on to achieve their full potential.

“Reading is important, because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything.”

Tomie dePaola

Phonic screening check training video

What we can do to help your child

•Daily whole class phonic lessons

•Targetted small group daily phonics sessions with Mrs Withrington

•Targetted small group sessions with the class teacher

•Setting weekly phonics homework

What you can do to help your child

•Complete weekly phonics homework

•Play phonic games

•Visit the library

•Download and play phonic apps

•Do some phonics every day!

What shall I do if my child is struggling to decode?

•Say each sound in the word from left to right.

•Blend the sounds by pointing to each letter, i.e. /b/ in bat, or letter group, i.e. /igh/ in sigh, as you say the sound, then run your finger under the whole word as you say it.

•Talk about the meaning if your child does not understand the word they have read.

•Work at your child’s pace and have FUN!

What happens after the screening check?

•The check is not about passing or failing but checking appropriate progress is being made

•If children do not reach the required standard, then we will be in touch to discuss plans and offer additional, tailored support to ensure that your child improves their reading skills

•Children progress at different speeds so not reaching the threshold score does not necessarily mean there is a serious problem. Your child will re-sit the check the following summer term