Phonics

At St Paul's, early reading is taught using synthetic phonics as the main approach to reading.

Pupils are systematically taught the phonemes (sounds), how to blend the sounds all through the word for reading, and how to segment the sounds in order to write words. They are taught to use their phonic skills and knowledge as their first approach to reading, but are also taught high frequency words which do not completely follow the phonic rules.

We use Supersonic Phonic Friends, a Government supported scheme.  Phonics  teach our children to read, write and spell.  Our children do well in the phonics screening check and by Year 2, the majority are fluent readers with the best chance of success in the KS1 tests.  We know what it takes to make reading and writing pleasurable and rewarding for our children.

At the end of Year 1, children will undertake a statutory phonics screening check.

This is a short assessment to make sure that children have learnt phonics to an appropriate standard.

There are 40 words in the screening check which children are asked to read on a one-to-one basis with their teacher. The check is made up of 'real words' (eg. 'mud') and 'non-words' (eg. 'splog') and children need to apply their phonic knowledge to read all words.

Preparation for the check takes place during the daily phonics session, but you can help your child at home by practising phonics on a regular basis.

For more information about phonics and our approach to teaching English please follow the link below:

English

For more information on how to support your child at home there are some really helpful resources available that parents can use that work alongside Supersonic Phonic Friends.