Learning to read
through phonics
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What is phonics?
Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly
and skilfully through….
Recognising the sounds that each individual letter makes.
Identifying the sounds that different
combinations of letters make - /sh/ /oo/
Blending these sounds together from left to right to make a word.
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Phoneme
The smallest unit of a sound.
Grapheme
The letter or letters
representing a sound.
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Blending and Segmenting
sh
ar
p
sharp
Blending for reading and
Segmenting for spelling
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Why are these skills important?
Children can then use this knowledge to
‘de-code’ new words they see or hear.
This is the first important step in
learning to read.
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Why phonics?
Research shows that when phonics
is taught in a structured way –
starting with the easiest sounds
and progressing through to the
most complex sounds – it is the
most effective way of teaching
young children to read.
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Why phonics?
Almost all children who receive good teaching
of phonics will learn the skills they need to
tackle new words.
They can then go on to read any kind of text
fluently and confidently, and to read for
enjoyment.
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What is the phonics
screening check?
•The phonics screening check is a quick and
easy check of your child’s phonics
knowledge.
• It helps your school confirm whether
your child has made the expected
progress.
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How does the check work?
• Your child will sit with a teacher he or she knows
and be asked to read 40 words aloud.
• Your child may have read some of the words
before, while others may be completely new.
• The check normally takes a few minutes and there
is no time limit.
• If your child is struggling the teacher will stop the
check.
• The check is carefully designed not to be stressful
for your child.
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What does the phonics check
look like?
The phonics screening check will contain a
mixture of real words and ‘non-words’.
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Why use ‘non-words’?
•Your child will already be familiar with the
use of ‘non-words’ because your school
already uses these when they teach
phonics.
• These ‘non-words’ are important to
include as your child can not read the nonword by using their memory or
vocabulary…they have to use their
decoding skills.
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What happens next?
Your school will tell you about
your child’s progress in phonics
and how he/she has done in the
screening check in the last half
term of Year 1.
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PHONICS
 Correct
pronunciation
 Correct vocabulary
 We
all need to use the same
language at home and at school.
 Little
and often is the key. Does
not have to be formal.
 Link
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it to your child’s interests.
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Let’s see what a
phonics session
looks like.
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