Phonics at North Queensferry Primary School
Information for Parents
What is synthetic phonics?
Phonics is a basic skill used in learning to read and write.
At its simplest, phonics is the relationship between the letter you see on the page and the sound (not the letter name) that it makes when you say it, i.e. knowing that the letter ‘a’ will have the sound /a/ as in apple or ant.
How do we teach phonics?
We use ‘Jolly Phonics’ for the initial teaching of sounds and letters.
In Jolly Phonics the 42 main sounds of English are taught, not just the alphabet. The sounds are in seven groups:
Each sound has an action which helps children remember the letter(s) that represent it. As a child progresses you can point to the letters and see how quickly they can do the action and say the sound. One letter sound can be taught each day. As a child becomes more confident, the actions are no longer necessary.
Children should learn each letter by its sound, not its name. This will help in blending. The names of each letter can follow later.
The letters have not been introduced in alphabetical order. The first group (s,a,t,i,p,n) has been chosen because they make more simple three-letter words than any other six letters. The letters b and d are introduced in different groups to avoid confusion.
We always introduce lower case letters first though children will need to know the capital letter at the beginning of their name. Upper and lower case letters are often displayed together around the classroom.
Using phonics
Phonics will help your child to work out those words they have not seen before when reading and to choose the right letters for the sounds in words when writing. For example, if a young child comes across the word ‘shop’ for the first time they will try to read it by breaking it down into its three phonic sounds
/ch/ /i/ /p/
and then ‘run’ these sounds together (blend) to say the word chip.
This is called decoding.
If they were asked to write the word they would break the word down into its sounds and write the letter or letters that represent each sound that they hear – ‘ch’, ‘i’ and ‘p’ – this is called encoding.
How can you help your child with reading and phonics?
Saying Sounds correctly
This is really important when you are helping your child to learn the sounds. Just remember not to add an uh or i to the end of the consonant sounds – so say mmm not muh, lll not lii etc, because then later it’s easier to blend the sounds together to make words.
Linking sounds to letters
Encourage your child to make a link between the sound and the written letter shape. Start with the sounds in your child’s name and then look out for them in the environment when you are out and about.
Sounds represented by more than one letter
Some sounds are represented by more than one letter such as sh in ship, ch in chat, th in thin, qu in quick and ng in sing. Point out examples of these to your child too.
Practise, practise, practise
Build up knowledge of the letters and sounds quite quickly with your child and keep practising so that it becomes automatic. Keep reminding ‘Do you remember when we were talking about the sound ch…?’, or ‘Oh look! There’s a big t (sound) on that poster!’. Use your child’s ‘sounds book’ to practise the sounds they are learning each week.
Putting sounds together to read simple words
Say the sounds c-a-t to read cat, sh-o-p to read shop and s-t-r-ee-t to read street. If your child gets stuck and is struggling to blend the sounds, say the sounds yourself, quickly, until your child can hear the word. Only beginner readers need to sound out every word as they read all the time. However, they will still need to work out new and long words.
Common / High Frequency / Tricky words
Some everyday words in English have tricky spellings and can’t be read by blending. Imagine trying to read the word the or you by blending each letter! These are sometimes called high frequency, common words or tricky words. These words just have to be learned by sight and flashcard-type games are a good way to practise these. Pupils work through Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond and Platinum word walls of these common words and are given certificates when a level has been reached. Try to keep these word walls handy at home and practise them regularly. When your child can read them confidently work on learning the spelling.
Reading books
Our school uses a synthetic phonics scheme called Jolly Phonics and Oxford Reading Tree is our main reading scheme. The books contain decodable words, which means the books consist mostly of words that children can read by sounding out. This will get the children off to a good start with independent reading. After your child has read a page, you can read it aloud again, to make sure that the story is enjoyed and understood.
Using pictures
Pictures are great for sharing and talking about a story (which is really important too!) To begin with the ORT books are illustration only. This gives children the opportunity to become familiar with the characters and settings as well as make up simple storylines to accompany the pictures.
Writing letters
Letter formation is taught as the letter sounds are learned. Correct formation is important. There are lots of fun multi-sensory ways of doing this, for example, sky writing, writing with a finger on a back, writing in sand. Encourage your child to hold a pencil in the tripod grip. Chunky triangular pencils are handy to keep at home as they naturally encourage the desired tripod grip. As your child progresses through P1 you may begin to notice them doing a lead in stroke for each letter. This is taught as part of our whole school approach to cursive writing.
Lots and lots of books!
Carry on sharing and reading lots and lots of stories and information books with your child. Most importantly aim to make it an enjoyable time with lots of encouragement, and praise.
Have fun !
Mrs Scouller, Support for Learning Teacher
Useful resources
‘Jolly songs’ available on YouTube or as an App. Children can sing along and perform the actions to the catchy song for each sound they have been learning in class.
Doorway: www.doorwayonline.org.uk for letter formation and phonic activities.
P1s should go to ‘Literacy’, ‘Phonics’, ‘Early Phonics’ and work through ‘First Words, First Digraphs, More Digraphs and First Blends’. P2s can access ‘Literacy,’ ‘Speller 2’; the first 2-5 sets of the first hundred common words and activities within ‘vowel sounds’ are especially good for P2. There are activities for each phonic or spelling pattern that your child will be working on. This is an excellent resource for continued use up to at least P5.
Oxford Reading Tree website: http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk
Lots of learning ideas, free activities and information on the reading scheme.
BBC Bitesize: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary
Interactive content on most curricular areas. Go to English and literacy for spelling activities.
Reading Eggs: www.readingeggs.co.uk
High quality and progressive interactive phonic and reading lessons and games alongside thousands of eBooks which have comprehension questions for the texts included. They offer a month free trial and thereafter a subscription would be required.
Clicker: www.cricksoft.com/clicker
All families at NQPS have a unique serial code to activate Clicker for home use. This is a fantastic tool for creating texts using child friendly word processing features, predictive text, varied layouts, creating voice recordings and reading eBooks. A tablet version is also now available.
