Being able to read is the most important skill children learn during their early schooling and has far-reaching implications for lifelong learning, confidence and well-being. High quality phonic teaching is the prime means by which we teach children how to read and spell words.
At Coppice Primary School we follow the systematic, synthetic Letters and Sounds phonics program. In Reception, children engage in phonics sessions daily where they are taught letter sounds (phonemes), and their written representation (graphemes), tricky words and high frequency words.
During the Autumn term and the 1st half of the Spring term, we focus on introducing Phase 2 and Phase 3 phonemes at a rate of 4 new phonemes a week as well as 1 tricky word a week. These new phonemes/graphemes are then embedded and consolidated into the curriculum in fun, engaging and practical ways. During the 2nd half of the Spring term and Summer term, we consolidate prior learning and focus on reading and writing using the taught graphemes.
Autumn | Spring | Summer |
Teach Phase 2 Letters and Sounds.
Teach Phase 2 tricky words. the, no, to, into, go, I Phase 2 phonics high frequency words a, an, as, at, and, back, big, but, can, dad, had, get, got, him, his, if, in, is, it, mum, not, on, of, off, up | Teach Phase 3 Letters and Sounds
Teach Phase 3 tricky words. all, are, be, he, her, me, my, she, they, was, we, you Phase 3 phonics high frequency words down, for, look, now, see, that, them, this, then, too, will, with | Embed Phase 3 Letters and Sounds.
Introduce Phase 4 Letters and Sounds Introduce Phase 4 tricky words. come, do, have, like, little, one, out, said, so, some, there, were, what, when Introduce Phase 4 high frequency words went, children, it's, just, from, help Phase 4 teaching continues into Year 1 |
The Teach Your Monster to Read
Teach your Monster to Read YOUTUBE channel has some excellent videos aligned to the Letters and Sounds scheme that we use. They model the correct pronunciation of Phase 2 sounds (phonemes) and are incredibly catchy, especially the Crazy Stir Fry phonics song: See it, Say it.