Phonics

Phonics Curriculum Intent

At Holy Trinity, it is our intention that all children become successful, confident readers by the end of Key Stage One. We believe this is achievable through a combination of strong, high-quality, discrete phonics teaching, combined with a whole-language approach that promotes a ‘Love of reading’ culture. This curriculum is aimed at reinforcing a consistent, high quality approach to the teaching and learning of phonics across the Early Years Foundation Stage, (EYFS), Key Stage One and on into Key Stage Two for children who still need this further support. The children will be able to use the strong phonics foundation taught throughout EYFS, KS1, and LKS2 to become fluent and confident readers throughout the rest of their school journey and in their wider life.

Implementation

At Holy Trinity we use FFT "Success for All" Phonics (validated scheme) to teach phonics across EYFS, KS1 and beyond where needed.

The FFT Phonics programme is designed for daily use from the beginning of EYFS, enabling children to make a smooth transition from Reception to Key Stage 1. Children have daily 25-minute phonics sessions and a daily 25-minute shared reader session. Each phonics session consists of reviewing previously learnt sounds (GPCs) and then teaching, practising and applying a new sound(s).

Reading books and Phonics

It is essential that children not only know their phonics, but also apply this skill to reading. Therefore, as part of our FFT "Success for All", we have a daily reading session, based on the phonics skills the children have been taught. Using fully decodable texts, children are given further opportunities to use these skills, and teachers model how to use this knowledge to support their reading.

This application is also seen within English lessons and the wider curriculum.

We have ensured that our reading books are fully decodable to go alongside the phonics that the children are being taught. Decodable books, also known as phonic readers, are books that contain either decodable or common exception words, meaning that children can read them using just their phonic skills and knowledge. Phonic books are used as take home books and also within guided and phonic reading sessions. This is from Basics 2 to The higher levels.

We then return to a coloured book system, starting at Orange / Turquoise through to free reader.

Alphabet Chant

In our phonics sessions we practise the letters of the alphabet, their order and the sounds they make. If you want to practise this at home you can use this link to help you: Alphabet Chant. The images of our alphabet strip help us to remember the formation and also the sounds each written letter makes. You can find our phrases and cues below to help you at home.

Sound Mats

In school we use sound mats to help us when writing. We can use the pictures to help us recognise the sound (grapheme) we need when writing. You can use your sound mat to help you at home.

Supporting your child at home

FFT Success for All Phonics has produced a handy guide with tips and tricks to support your child with their phonics and reading at home. Click the link to find out more.

FFT Success for All - Tips for Parents

How to pronounce GPCs

Click the link to hear the proper pronunciation of the Grapheme-Phoneme Correspondences in the FFT Success for All Phonics.

FFT Success for All - How to pronounce our GPCs