Phonics and Early Reading

Systematic Phonics Programme

What is phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds.

Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they are combined, will help children decode words as they read and, in time, as they write. Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters (e.g. t) or groups of letters (e.g. th).

Teaching children to blend the sounds of letters together helps them decode unfamiliar or unknown words by sounding them out.

At Stowting we use the Little Wandle systematic phonics scheme.

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds                                         

 As soon as the children arrive in school, they begin learning phonic sounds through our chosen systematic phonics scheme called Little Wandle Letters and Sounds. Once the children have been taught some key sounds, they are allocated a phonetically decodable book which is matched to the sounds that the children have already been taught, giving your child will have a high degree of success as they begin to break down the sounds (known as decoding) and start to read. The more times that your child has the opportunity to practise reading their book, at school and at home, the more successful they will become at recognising the sounds within the words in their reading books.

Stowting - Phonics and Early Reading Policy

 Below are some useful links for helping your child make the correct phonic sounds:

Little Wandle Resources for Parents