Phonics

Our Sounds-Write approach

SoundsWrite picture.png

Phonics Programme

At Farington Primary School, we teach phonics using a linguistic phonics programme called Sounds-Write. Sounds-Write is high-quality structured synthetic phonics program. The Sounds-Write programme is implemented in the classroom and provides fast and effective teaching for children at all levels. Children are taught to read and spell from entering their Reception year.

The Sounds-Write programme is successful in teaching children to read and spell because it
starts with what all children know from a young age – the sounds of their spoken language.
Then, using a systematic approach and quality modelling, it teaches them how these sounds are coded within our writing system.

Children are taught four key concepts:

  1. Letters are symbols that represent sounds

  2. Sounds can be spelled using 1, 2, 3 or 4 letters (dog, street, night, dough)

  1. The same sound can be spelled in different ways (rain, break, stay, gate)

  2. The same spelling can represent different sounds (head, seat, break)

Children are taught to master three key skills:

  1. Segmenting - the ability to pull apart the individual sounds in words

  2. Blending - the ability to push sounds together to build words

  3. Phoneme manipulation - the ability to insert sounds into and delete sounds out of words. This skill is necessary to test out alternatives for spellings that represent more than one sound.

How can I help support my child at home?

If your child needs some help when they are reading you can:

  • Encourage them to use their finger under the word from left to right.

  • Ask them to 'say the sounds and read the word'.

  • Tell them to 'listen' for the words as they say the sounds.

  • If they need more help, tell them the sounds in the word and ask them to listen and blend them to say the whole word.

It is important to say the sounds very precisely. You can watch and listen to Alex saying the sounds in this short video.

We encourage all of our parents/carers to access the free Sounds-Write online course so that they are well-informed about how best to support their children with reading and spelling at home.