Phonics

At Thorpe Lea Primary, we teach Phonics through the Read, Write Inc., programme.

Learning to read is one of the most important things your child will learn at school - everything depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible.

We want your child to love reading – and to want to read for themselves. This is why we put our efforts into making sure they develop a love of reading through other means including our Key Text approach to English, Thorpe Lea Bedtime Stories, Birthday Books and weekly visits to the school library.

How will my child be taught to read?

Even in Nursery, we are exposing children to discreet phonics teaching through rhythm and rhyme, alliteration and music games and through daily stories and singing sessions. When children are ready, the adults begin to touch upon letters of the alphabet and their matching phoneme/grapheme. When children enter Reception, they learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters through some of the rhymes below.

The children also practise reading (and spelling) what we call ‘tricky words’, such as ‘once,’ ‘have,’ ‘said’ and ‘where’. The children practise their reading with books that match the phonics and the ‘tricky words’ they know.

Once children know all the sounds, they are assessed and grouped based on this. They then carry out reading and writing tasks using the Read, Write Inc books and workbooks.

What can I do to help? Is there anything that I shouldn’t do?

Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘push’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. You can hear how to say the sounds correctly by watching the 'Pronunciation' video below.

We know parents and carers are very busy people. But if you can find time to read to your child as much as possible, it helps him or her to learn about books and stories. They also learn new words and what they mean. Show that you are interested in reading yourself and talk about reading as a family.