Phonics

Phonics is a systematic way to teach children to read and spell words. It enables children to blend the individual phonemes (the sound letter(s) make) and also supports their spelling to segment (break down) words orally by individual phonemes e.g. d_o_g.

At Fitzmaurice, we use LCP a scheme of work to deliver daily phonics in a multi-sensory way. LCP follows ‘Letter and Sounds’, a DFE phonics guidance.

The DFE stated in 2012:

“High quality phonics teaching gives children a solid base on which to build as they progress through school. Children who master the mechanics of reading are well-placed to go on to develop a love of reading."

Children undertake a statutory screening check at the end of Year 1. The phonics screening check is a short and simple assessment of phonic decoding. It consists of a list of 40 words, half real words and half non-words, which Year 1 children read to a teacher. Administering the assessment usually takes between four and nine minutes per child.

The check is designed to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard and have grasped the essential skills that underpin good reading.

Taught Phonemes

There are 44+ common phonemes in the English language which are taught throughout a child’s time in the reception year and year one. The phonemes are listed in the grids below by the phases they are taught in.

Phases taught in Reception

Phase 2	s	a	t	p	i	n	m	d
	sat	pat	tap	sap	pip	tin	mat	did
	g	o	c	k	ck	e	u	r
	gag	got	cap	kit	sock	pen	cup	rat
	h	b	f	ff	l	ll	ss
	had	bad	fit	puff	leg	tell	hiss

Phase 3	j	v	w	x	y	z	zz	qu
	jam	vet	win	fox	yes	zip	buzz	quit
	ch	sh	th	ng	ai	ee	igh	oa
	chop	ship	then	ring	wait	feel	high	coat
	ur	ow	oi	ear	air	ure	er
	burn	down	soil	hear	hair	pure	fern

In Phase 4 no new phonemes are taught, but children learn how to read and spell CCVC (Consonant, Consonant, Vowel, Consonant) and CCVCC words using the phonemes they already know.

Phase 4 – CCVC

words

green

fresh

swing

smell

spoon

train

brush

sport

CCVCC

words

stand

crisp

spend

twist

frost

stamp

think

grunt

Phase taught in Year 1

Phase 5	ay	ou	ie	ea	oy	ir	ue
	day	out	lie	seat	boy	girl	blue
	ue	aw	wh	ph	ew	oe	au
	glue	saw	when	phonics	blew	toe	haul
	ey	a_e	e_e	i_e	o_e	u_e
	donkey	game	these	kite	bone	June

Later in year 1, the children are taught Alternative Graphemes (the letter(s) used) to make the same phoneme (sound) for reading and spelling.

Phase 5 Alternative Graphemes	ai, ay, a_e, a, ey,
	chain	day	came	bacon	grey
	ee, ey, ea, e, y, ie, e_e
	feet	donkey	bead	she	happy	field	even
	ie, igh, i_e, i, y
	pie	fright	ripe	child	fry
	er, ur, ir, or, ear
	her	fur	bird	worm	learn
	or, aw, augh, our, au, al
	sort	claw	caught	court	haunt	ball
	air, ere, ear, are
	fair	there	pear	square
	oa, ow, oe, o_o, o
	goat	glow	toe	home	cold
	u, oul, oo
	pull	should	book
Phase 5 Alternative Graphemes (cont)	oo, ue, ew u_e
	moon	flute	chew	blue
	u, u_e, ue ar, a, al
	unit	cube	rescue		car	father	half
	j, g, dge ear, ere, eer
	jar	ginger	bridge		fear	severe	cheer
	ch, c n, gn, kn
	school	cat			next	gnome	knit
	ch, tch, ture
	chin	catch	mixture
	sh, ch, ti, ci, s
	ship	chalet	caption	social	sure

Parents' Guide to Phonics

DfE Letters & Sounds YouTube Channel

Useful Websites

What is phonics?

Taught Phonemes

Phases taught in Reception

Phase taught in Year 1

Information in PDF for printing