Phonics at Polegate

"So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: They begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky."
William James

At Polegate School we believe that there are no limits and that all our children can become fluent readers and writers.

We have recently started following a new phonics scheme called Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised which is a government validated systematic synthetic phonics programme. Phonics enables your child to learn to read by teaching sounds and tricky words in a systematic order. This means that children are able to start reading words and sentences quickly – even as soon as learning their first four sounds! Children learn that sounds can be represented by graphemes (letters) and to blend sounds together to read words.

Find our full phonics overview on our year group pages to see what your child will learn and when. Our overview shows the progression of sounds and tricky words that we teach term-by-term. The progression has been organised so that children are taught from the simple to more complex sounds, as well as taking into account the frequency of their occurrence in the most commonly encountered words. Children review and revise sounds and words, daily, weekly and across terms and years, in order to move this knowledge into their long-term memory.

You will find some useful videos below so you can see how your children are taught phonics at school and feel confident about supporting their reading at home.

Support for phonics

These three videos show you how to pronounce the sounds. Notice how the children don’t add an ‘uh’ sound at the end, so they say: ‘t’ not ‘tuh’. Use the downloadable information to help your child remember how to write their letters and say their sounds.

Useful videos

Useful Downloads

Supporting your child with reading

Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.

There are two types of reading book that your child may bring home:

• A reading practice book. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently.
• A sharing book.  Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.

Reading practice book

This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.

Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.

Sharing book

In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together.

Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!

Please use the links below to support your child with phonics

Little Wandle - https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/