Phonics

At Bellefield Primary and Nursery School we use Sounds-Write to teach our children to read, write and spell. Sounds Write is a DfE approved quality first phonics programme.

Sounds-Write teaches children:

• Letters are symbols (spellings) that represent sounds.
• Each sound may be represented by a 1, 2, 3 or 4-letter spelling.
• The same sound can be spelt in more than one way (rain, play, bake, break).
• Many spellings represent more than one sound (break and beak).

The following skills are taught throughout the Sounds-Write programme:

• Blending – pushing the sounds together to build words (p-e-n = pen)
• Segmenting – pulling the individual sounds apart in words (big = b-i-g)
• Phoneme manipulation – inserting sounds into words and deleting sounds out of words. 

What does phonics look like at Bellefield?

Phonics is taught every day for at least 30 minutes in Reception and KS1 to the whole class. Each session follows a clear sequence and children are encouraged to practise reading and writing words and sentences. We support the children to develop correct letter formation and help them to understand the purposes of writing. 

We want our children to develop a love of reading and so provide them with many opportunities to read, and to be read to, throughout the school day. Phonics supports the process of reading however children need to be exposed to a wide range of high quality texts so that they can develop their vocabulary and comprehension skills (understanding what the child is reading). 

How can parents/carers support? 

• Use letter sounds rather than letter names. This will avoid confusion for the children and will reinforce the learning being done at school.
• Avoid adding an extra vowel when pronouncing letter sounds eg ‘buh’ ‘duh’.
• When listening to your child read encourage them to have-a-go at unfamiliar words by encouraging them to: “Say the sounds and read the word”.
• If the children are really struggling then help them by saying the sounds and blending the word together. 
• Attend the phonics workshop in September which will talk through using the Sounds Write approach at home. 
• There is an online course that parents/carers can complete and will further your understanding of the Sounds-Write program and teaching. You can find the course by going to: https://www.udemy.com/help-your-child-to-read-and-write/
• For more information about our phonics programme, please click on the link which will take you to the Sounds Write website. https://www.sounds-write.co.uk/ 

If you have any questions about phonics or our phonics teaching please speak to your child's class teacher or Ellen Campbell, the Early Reading and Phonics lead.