Phonics at Spetisbury

At Spetisbury Primary School we follow  All Aboard Phonics  as our systematic synthetic phonics programme. We have chosen this programme as it builds upon the success we found using Letters and Sounds and it assists us in our aim to achieve the very best possible results for their children, year after year.   It provides a complete programme to teach phonics in a fun, multi-sensory way with clear signposting of expected progress. All Aboard Phonics taps into children’s imaginations making learning fun and easy to remember.

Systematic Synthetic Phonics

All Aboard Phonics uses the synthetic phonics method, which means that the phonemes are taught first and then children are taught to blend sounds together to say words. The programme follows a systematic approach, meaning that the phonemes are introduced in a specific sequence.

In All Aboard Phonics, all the main sounds of the English language are taught and each sound is introduced with a character called a pictophone. This is a memorable, visual prompt to support phonemic awareness. For example, the Toad About to Explode represents the /t/ sound and the Oon on the Moon represents the long /oo/ sound.

Children should initially learn each letter by its sound, not its name. This will help when blending sounds to form words in the early stages. Later on in the programme, the letter names and alphabet song will be introduced and the variability of sound for the vowels and some consonants will be explained.

Blending

Blending is the process of saying the individual sounds in a word and then running them together to make the word. This is a technique that every child needs to learn and although it can be difficult for some children at first, with lots of practice this will improve. We have a very particular process for introducing early blending, which is one of the key stumbling blocks for some children. It goes like this:

1. Introduce a word, “cat” for instance. Say the word and write it on the board.

2. Segment the word into the individual phonemes for the children, which are /c/ /a/ /t/ in this case. Be very precise about making just the sound of the letter, not “cuh… a…. tuh”. The /c/ sound is just a little pop at the back of the mouth and the /t/ sound is a little pop between the tongue and top front of the roof of the mouth.

3. Blend the sounds back together for the children into the word. Now get them to repeat the whole process.

Although they know what they are blending the sounds back to, we find this process builds confidence much more quickly than if they learn by trying to blend sounds blind, into an unknown word.

When they progress onto digraphs and trigraphs, then the same routine should be used, highlighting how the graphemes have just a single sound.

Segmenting

The easiest way to know how to spell a word is to listen for the sounds in that word and relate those sounds to the possible graphemes for each of them. This is also called segmenting and is the reverse of blending. Games like Phonics I-Spy are ideal for this. Begin with simple three letter words, say the word and demonstrate the three sounds by holding up a finger for each individual sound. Remember to take care with digraphs, which are two letters that make one sound.

A Guide for Parents on Daily Reading Practice

We know that phonics can seem different to the way that you were taught to read at school. These resources should help you feel more confident as they will remind your child of the phonics teaching in school.

Supporting your child with their reading development can be challenging, especially when you lead a busy life, have other children to look after and work to complete! The key thing to know is that your input is going to be vital to your child, because the classroom team cannot do individual reading sessions each day. A ten-minute session with 30 children takes 5 hours! The good news is that if you really implement these tips, you will see less stress and better progress each week.

Tips for Reading Practice Success

1. Short, Regular Lessons 

• Keep reading practice sessions to no more than 10-15 minutes for better focus.
• Try to do a short session every day, to build momentum.
• Try a morning reading routine if your child finds it hard later in the day.

2. Affirm Frequently

• Say something positive every time your child gets something right. That means every word or even each sound in a word!
• Avoid all negative comments or tones to your voice. If a mistake is made empathise with the difficulty. Imagine trying to read Greek text and you will know what your child is dealing with.
• Try measuring your positive-to-negative comment ratio. Our “Rule of Five” is that you must get five positive comments for every correction. Someone listening to you should hear “Yes! Good, that’s right. Yup. Nearly... You got it!” 

3.Help With Any Difficulties 

• Stress is the great enemy, because it shuts down the thinking processes. So help if a word is proving difficult and keep praising progress!

4. Ask For a Reread 

• If a phrase has tricky words in it, always ask your child to do a quick reread of the phrase before going on to the next one, so that they can read it fluently. They will not be keen, but this will double progress.

5. Encourage Decoding 

• Guide your child towards working out the sounds in a word rather than trying to guess it.

6. Keep the Text Big Enough

• Only ask your child to read text that is big enough. If small text is a challenge, help your child do the eye exercises that the school recommends to you.