Phonics

At Warcop CofE Primary School we follow the Read Write Inc. program for teaching phonics.  At the beginning of the school year, in September, children from Reception to Year 2 complete an initial phonics assessments, in order to put them in a 'speed sound' group.  In Read Write Inc phonics the individual sounds are called ‘speed sounds’ – because we want your child to read them effortlessly. Set 1 sounds are the initial letter sounds. They are taught in the following order. m, a, s, d, t, i, n, p, g, o, c, k, u, b, f, e, l, h, sh, r, j, v, y, w, th, z, ch, qu, x, ng, nk.

There are 12 Set 2 ‘speed sounds’ that are made up of two or three letters which represent just one sound, e.g. ay as in play, ee as in tree and igh as in high. When children learn their Set 2 sounds they will learn:

*the letters that represent a speed sound e.g. ay

*a simple picture prompt linked to the ‘speed sound’ and a short phrase to say e.g. may I play Every speed sound has a list of green words linked to it, so your child can ‘sound out’ and ‘sound blend’ words containing the new speed sound they have just learnt, for example s-p-r-ay = spray. When learning their Set 3 speed sounds they will be taught that there are more ways in which the same sounds are written, e.g. ee as in tree and ea as in tea.

After this, every Reception - Year 2 child will complete a phonics assessment to sort them into a 'Storybook' group.  The storybooks consists of green words linked to the sounds they have been learning, red word (words that are not decodable) and challenge words to extend children’s vocabulary. After children have practiced these words individually they are prepared to see them in context in the story. Activities such as comprehension questions, partner discussion and writing activities based on the book follow.  

Phonics to Spellings

At Warcop CofE Primary School we have developed our own ‘Whole School Spelling Plan’, (see Appendix 5) which outlines what each year group should cover throughout the school.  In mixed-age classes there will be a rolling programme put in class, to ensure the children receive the full coverage of objectives that they need to cover.  The plan allows rules to be recapped at the beginning of the year and gives year groups in Key Stage Two the opportunity to work on words, which are directly taken from the ‘Word Banks’ in the New Curriculum.  During Key Stage One there is a larger emphasis placed on phonics.  We aim to develop children’s use of vocabulary via their spellings lesson, by discussing the meaning of the word and providing them with spellings, which may prove useful during their writing activities.

In KS2 children are encouraged to complete daily spellings practice in school linked to a spelling rule.  Every child in the school receives homework linked to their spelling lessons in class; this homework includes practicing their spellings on 'Spellings Frame' and completing one of the 'Sweet Shop Menu' tasks using each of their spelling words for the week.