Phonics

At Damson Wood Nursery and Infant School, the chosen core Phonics pathway is Letters and Sounds, supported by a selection of resources from the Read Write Inc. programme (flashcards and rhymes for sound introduction).

Phonics is introduced in our Nursery setting, beginning with Letters and Sounds Phase 1. This covers all the 7 aspects included in the Letters and Sounds guidance (Environmental Sounds, Instrumental Sounds, Body Percussion, Rhythm and Rhyme, Alliteration, Voice Sounds, and Oral Blending and Segmenting).

For children who are ready, interactive, small group sessions will be taught, to start delivering Phase 2 in the Summer Term.

In Reception, children are introduced to the letters and sounds from Phase 2 and Phase 3 through daily Phonics sessions. They will use this knowledge to progress from oral blending and segmenting of VC words, to accurately reading and writing CVC words. They will then move onto Phase 4 in the Summer Term, to learn how to read and spell words containing adjacent consonants. The children are also taught ‘Tricky Words’ in the order of the Letters and Sounds programme, as well as reading the ‘High-Frequency Words’ linked to each Phase.

When children move into Year 1, they have a revision of Phase 2, 3, and the Phase 4 adjacent consonants, in the first half of the Autumn Term. They are then introduced to all Phase 5 sounds, including the multiple/alternative spellings and alternative pronunciations. Children work on Phase 5 throughout Year 1, with time for revision towards the end of the year, to address any misconceptions and gaps in learning. At the end of Year 1, children complete the Phonics Screening Check.

At the beginning of Year 2, children are ready for Phase 6. Children know most of the common grapheme-phoneme correspondences and are working towards improving their reading fluency and spelling accuracy. Any children who did not pass the Phonics Screening Check at the end of Year 1, or children that did pass but still require some additional support, have intervention put in place during Year 2 and join in with Year 1 Phonics sessions, in preparation for them re-sitting the Phonics Screening Check at the end of Year 2.