English Curriculum

Phonics

In EYFS and KS1 children learn phonics using activities from the Read Write Inc program and take home related sounds and tricky words to support their learning. Phonics is taught daily in EYFS and KS1 and children are reassessed every six weeks to check the level they are working at.

Supporting at home

With Read, Write Inc. each sound has a saying to help us remember the correct sound i.e. mmmmmountain; sssssssssnake and a saying to help us remember how to form the letters correctly, e.g. 'Maisie, mountain, mountain'; 'slither down the snake'.

It's important to use only pure sounds, ('mmmm' not' muh', 'sssss' not 'suh', etc) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily. We hope that you and your child can have fun learning them!

Click here to watch a 5 minute video clip, demonstrating how we produce our pure sounds to help during our Read, Write Inc. lessons.

Stretchy sounds (long sounds). Try to avoid saying 'uh' after each one: 

m - mmmmmmountain (keep lips pressed together hard)

     Maisie, mountain, mountain

s - sssssnake (keep teeth together and hiss - unvoiced)

      Slither down the snake

n - nnnnnnet (keep tongue behind teeth)

      Down Nobby, up, over his net

f - ffffflower (keep teeth on bottom lip and force air out sharply - unvoiced)

      Down the stem and draw the leaves

l - llllleg (keep pointed curled tongue behind teeth)

     Down the long leg

r - rrrrrrobot (say rrr as if you are growling)

     Down the robot, up and over his arm

v - vvvvvvulture (keep teeth on bottom lip and force air out gently)

      Down a wing, up a wing

z - zzzzzzip (keep teeth together and make a buzzing sound)

      Zig-zag-zig

th - thhhhank you ( stick out tongue and breathe out sharply)

  Down the tower, across the tower, then down the horse's head to the hooves and up over his back

sh - shhhh said the horse to the hissing snake (shhh noise as in 'be quiet!')

  Slide down the snake, then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back

ng - thinnnnngg on a strinnnngg (curl your tongue at the back of your throat)

 Down Nobby, up, over his net then round the girl’s face, down her hair and give her a curl

nk - I think I stink (i.e 'nk' in oink)

 Down Nobby, up, over his net then down the kangaroo’s body, tail and leg

 

Bouncy sounds (short sounds). Make the sound as short as possible avoiding 'uh' at the end of the sound: 

t - t-t-t tower (tick tongue behind the teeth - unvoiced)

      Down the tower, across the tower

p - p-p-p pirate (make distinctive p with lips - unvoiced)

      Down the plait, up and over the pirate's face

k - k-k-k kangaroo (make sharp click at back of throat)

      Down the kangaroo's body, tail and leg

c - c-c-c caterpillar (as above)

      Curl round the caterpillar

h - h-h-h horse (say h as you breathe sharply out - unvoiced)

      Down the horse's head to his hooves and up over his back

ch - The caterpillar's hairs make the horse sneeze ch-ch-ch (make a short sneezing sound)

     Curl round the caterpillar, then down the horse’s head, to his hooves and up over his back

x - x-x-x exercise (say a sharp c and add s - unvoiced)

      Cross down the arm and leg and cross the other way                                                                       

You might find it harder to avoid saying uh at the end of these bouncy sounds.

d - d-d-d dinosaur (tap tongue behind the teeth)

      Round the dinosaur's bottom, up his tall neck and down to his feet

g - g-g-g girl (make soft sound in throat)

      Round the girl's face, down her hair and give her a curl

b - b-b-b boot (make a short, strong b with lips)

      Down to the heel, up and over the toe

j - j-j-j Jack-in-the-box (push lips forward)

      Down his body, curl and dot

y - y-y-y yak (keep edges of tongue against teeth)

     Down a horn, up a horn and under the yak's head

w - w-w-w worm (keep lips tightly pursed)

     Down, up, down, up the worm

qu - qu-qu-qu queen (keep lips pursed as you say cw- unvoiced)

     Round the queen's head, up to her crown, down her hair and curl

 

Vowels- the short vowels should be kept short and sharp:

a - a-a-a apple (open mouth wide as if to take a bite of an apple)

   Round the apple and down the leaf

e - e-e-e egg (release mouth slightly from a position)

   Chop off the top and scoop out the egg

i - i-i-i insect (make a sharp sound at the back of the throat - smile)

   Down the body and a dot for the head

o - o-o-o orange (push out lips, make the mouth into o shape)

     All around the orange

u: u-u-u umbrella (make a sound in the throat)

    Down and under, up to the top and draw the puddle

 

The long vowel sounds are all stretchy sounds:

ay: ay, may I play?

ee: ee, what do you see?

igh: fly high

ow: blow the snow

oo: poo at the zoo

oo: look at a book

ar: start the car

or: shut the door

air: that's not fair

ir: whirl and twirl

ou: shout it out

oy: toy for a boy

Our teachers and teaching assistants can show you how to pronounce these sounds. We hope that you will not hesitate to ask any of our friendly team if you'd like some help.

Other useful links are:

Free e-books for home reading:

http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/Reading/

Reading Scheme / Accelerated Reader (AR)

Reception and Year 1

These children use a book banded scheme which allows them to progress at their own pace. It gives them practise in both word-recognition and understanding what they have read.

Years 2-6 

We have invested in the Accelerated Reader (AR) scheme which ensures childrens books are closely matched to their reading ability - again both word recognition and comprehension. After reading, children are expected to take a short quiz to see whether they need to move on or spend more time consolidating their skills.

http://www.renlearn.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Parents-Guide-to-Accelerated-Reader_2016-17.pdf