Westbourne Primary School
Phonics
Reception Phonics Workshop for Parents
Y1 Phonics Workshop for Parents
Play our fun phonic games that have been made to match our scheme whenever you see this sign! Click on the sign below to go to our phonic games page.
At Westbourne, we begin by teaching children to read using a systematic, synthetic phonics approach (using the Jolly Phonics Scheme). To support our consistent, systematic approach to teaching reading we use Jolly Phonic decodable readers that match the order of sounds taught and the tricky words learnt at each stage in your child’s journey through the complex alphabetic code we use in English. The children initially learn one way of making a sound, then learn alternative ways of making the sounds already learnt, building up this complex code (there are 13 ways of making the ‘ai’ sound in English!) These decodable books have a very carefully controlled vocabulary which makes them ideal for children to apply the skills they have been taught.
Once Jolly Phonics has brought fluency to the children’s reading, comprehension becomes the greater focus. The children are now not learning to read but reading to learn as they become fluent, independent readers – selecting their own reading material from either classroom book corners or from their own/ local library collection.
In order to encourage all children to become lifelong readers, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. We encourage all children to take home a sharing book as well as their phonic book. This book is chosen by the child to share with an adult at home. They can change this book as often as they like and is a great opportunity for them to explore different types of writing.
Our ultimate aim is for all children to enjoy reading and derive pleasure from engaging with a wide variety of books and texts.
Sounds:
These are the sounds taught in order - the games on our website are grouped in this order so that you can go over them as your child progresses through the sounds.
Please click on the video links below to see and hear the sounds being pronounced.
Video showing all 42 sounds and how they are pronounced
Actions:
Watch the videos , see the action and hear the songs for the initial sounds taught - just click on the image.
GROUP 1 SOUNDS - s a t p i n
GROUP 2 SOUNDS - c k e h r m d
GROUP 3 SOUNDS - g o u f l b
GROUP 4 SOUNDS - ai j oa ie ee or
GROUP 5 SOUNDS - z w ng v oo oo
GROUP 6 SOUNDS - y x ch sh th th
GROUP 7 SOUNDS - qu ou oi ue er ar
There are 5 Key Skills to learning Phonics:
Click on each image to watch a video about the skills.
1. Learning the letter sounds:
This is the order of sounds taught in Jolly phonics. The colours represent the reading books they are found in.
2. Learning the Letter Formation
3. Blending
4. Identifying sounds in words:
5. Tricky Words:
The colour of the tricky words show the colour books they are used in. Children need to know these tricky words BEFORE reading that colour book.
https://wordwall.net/resource/36871209/1-orange-tricky-words
https://wordwall.net/resource/36871564/2-red-tricky-words-
https://wordwall.net/resource/36871753/3-yellow-tricky-words-
https://wordwall.net/resource/36871867/4-green-tricky-words-
https://wordwall.net/resource/36872079/5-blue-tricky-words-
https://wordwall.net/resource/36872148/6-purple-tricky-words-
The Complex Alphabetical Code:
Children are taught one way of making the sounds, then alternative ways of making these sounds in Reception and build up the alphabetic code by looking at unusual alternative spellings over the next few years of phonics.
English Alphabetical Code:
Need help understanding all of the Phonics Terms?
This guide will help you with all of the meanings!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5gZfVUpOBk&t=16s
Word Bank:
-Please see the PDF below which contains a word bank providing a list of suitable words that can be made using the sounds learnt – great for practising phonic skills at a level suited to your child’s stage of learning!
Oral blending is the skill of combining individual spoken phonemes (sounds) to form a whole word, a foundational skill in early reading and phonics. For example, an adult will say the sounds /c/-/a/-/t/ and will blend them to say cat. This is a critical step before children can blend written letters to read words, making it a key early literacy skill taught through fun, simple games and activities.
Click on these videos to try out this skill.
Click on the image to watch a video explaining how to use Wordless books with your child.
Watch this video to see how to sound out and blend to read a word.
Resources for Parents
Go to our Phonic game page on the website (children - phonic games) which is full of games specially made for Westbourne to support phonics learning.
Are you finding it hard to recognise b and d ? Play these games to help !
https://wordwall.net/play/36868/786/534
https://wordwall.net/play/36870/125/848