Phonics
Phonics provision at St Mary's and St Benedict's RC School
We use "Red Rose Letters & Sounds", from the Lancashire Professional Development Service (LPDS), exclusively to deliver our phonics teaching.
Phonics
Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language.
Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they’re combined will help children decode words as they read.
Understanding phonics will also help children know which letters to use when they are writing words.
At St. Mary’s and St. Benedict’s, we recognise the importance of phonics to decode. Daily phonics teaching is prioritised throughout EYFS and Key Stage 1 and underpins both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Decoding skills are taught daily from EYFS.
Phonics sessions follow the teaching scheme 'Red Rose Phonics' and include fun and enjoyable activities which lead to rapid acquisition of skills. Regular application of phonics skills on a daily basis further strengthen our children’s reading ability.
Phonics is taught progressively through 5 phases. It is expected that children will reach Phase 5 in Year 1. However, we understand that children all learn at their own level, therefore we stream our phonics groups across Key Stage 1 to ensure all children can access the Phonics Curriculum at their own level. We tailor our phonics teaching to meet the individual needs of children. We regularly monitor our children’s progress and so if children are not on track to meet the phonics expectations, interventions and additional support are put in place.
Click here to access the phases of phonics.
Phonics Screening Check
At the end of Year 1, all children are required to undergo the statutory Phonics Screening Check, which takes place in the Summer Term. Children are presented with ‘pseudo words’ (nonsense words) and real words and are assessed on their ability to decode words using the sounds they have learnt in Phases 2-5. The test contains 40 words and children are required to read a specified number of those words correctly (2024 pass mark was 32 words) in order to achieve the required standard. If your child does not meet the required standard in Year 1, they will be retested the following year in the Summer term of Year 2.
If you have any questions about phonics or the Phonics Screening Check, please speak to your child's teacher.
At St. Mary’s and St. Benedict’s, we hold a Parent Phonics Meeting, both in Reception and in Year one. This is an opportunity to learn more about Phonics and ask questions to the class teacher. We also send home Phonics packs to help you support your child’s phonics at home.
During our parent meetings, we will talk about the importance of articulating sounds and using the ‘pure sound’ when decoding words.
Phonics interventions
Red Rose Fast Track Phonics has been developed by the Lancashire Literacy Team to support children in Year 2 who did not achieve the expected level in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check. It is designed to address gaps in learning and is intended to be run in addition to the quality daily phonics teaching. We may identify children in other year groups who we feel would benefit from the programme.
Red Rose Fast Track Phonics is a 14 week programme which focuses on the key skills of all good phonics programmes which are:
Letter to sound correspondence.
Blending sounds to support reading.
Breaking words into sounds to support writing.
Blending and breaking as reversible processes.
Click here to see the overview for the Fast Track Phonics programme.
Red Rose Bounce Back Phonics is a 12 week planning programme based on Red Rose Letters and Sounds which has been developed to support children in KS2 who need further support in phonics for reading and writing. It is an intervention programme designed to revisit Phase 4 and target the higher value GPCs in Phase 5.
Click here to see the overview for the Bounce Back Phonics programme.
Click here to return to the English homepage.
Below is a video about Phase 2 sounds.
Below is a video about Phase 3 sounds.
Below is a video about the teaching of Phase 2 sounds.
Below is a video about the teaching of Phase 3 sounds.
Below is a video about the teaching of tricky words.
Below is a video about the teaching of segmenting and blending.