Welcome to our Phonics page.

At Walverden Primary, children learn phonics throughout Early Years and Key Stage 1. It is taught every day, in short sessions so that children build up and practise the skills they need to use in  speaking, reading and writing.

Practising the sounds correctly is really important!

Here at Walverden Primary School we use the Read Write Inc scheme for phonics. 

Children will be taught how to read as follows:

Fred Talk

This helps children read unfamiliar words by pronouncing each sound in the word one at a time. Children can start blending sounds into words as soon as they know a small group of letters well. Sound blending is essential in reading.

It is important that you use pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's's not 'suh ' etc) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds together in order to read fluently.

At school we use a puppet called Fred (a frog) who sounds out the words and then we blend them together to make a word! We call it, 'Fred Talk'.

E.G. m-o-p,   c-a-t,   d-a-d,   ch-i-n,   f-ee-t.

The following video is an example of blending sounds with Fred. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEzfpod5w_Q

Nonsense words (Alien words)  

As well as learning to read and blend real words children will practice applying those skills to read ‘Nonsense words’.  These words will also appear in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term. 

Blending:

Dots and dashes represent the sound each letter makes (these are sometimes called sound buttons). Children say the sounds in each word and then blend them together to say the word.

Phonics Screening Check Year One

What is the Year 1 phonics screening check?

The Year 1 phonics screening check is a short assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.

It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support by their school to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to retake the check so that schools can track pupils until they are able to decode.

The Phonics Screening Check will usually take place in the 2nd week of June. Please ensure your child is at school during this period. Year 1 teachers will give out more information nearer the time.

The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets. Please find all sounds, with examples of real and nonsense words in each set. We even have videos to help you sound out each sound correctly.

Useful websites for Parents

Please find a list of websites that you may find useful in helping you and your child learn about phonics. There are links to a range of games and activities.

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ - games to play with all phonics sounds

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/ - games and videos on each sound

http://www.ictgames.com/literacy.html  - Phonics games for the children to play

http://www.starfall.com/  - Phonics games for the children to play

http://www.firstschoolyears.com/  - Phonics games for the children to play

Sparklebox - lots of resources to print off and help you support your child at home

BBC Bitesize - many games to play covering all areas of the curriculum