Phonics at the Infant School

Sounds Write 

Nursery Children will focus on developing their speaking and listening skills as a priority to ensure they can access the main Sounds Write programme when they reach Reception class. Children will develop their listening skills and progress to develop oral blending, segmenting and phoneme manipulation skills. All children need to have effective listening skills, articulation and vocabulary to progress to reading and writing with explicit instruction.  
 

Reception will begin the Sounds Write programme. This will involve explicit instruction in the initial code as well as refining their blending, segmenting and phoneme manipulation skills. Children will learn that letters are symbols that represent sounds. The initial code knowledge will introduce that one letter can spell one sound and progress to introduce the concept that two letters can spell one sound.  
 

Year 1 Children will build on their code knowledge within the extended code where two letters spell one sound. The children will progress to develop the concept that different letters can spell the same sound e.g. play – rain - gate. Children will continue to apply and refine their blending, segmenting and phoneme manipulation skills. Children will learn to spell polysyllabic words.  
 

Year 2 Children will continue to build on their knowledge of the extended code and develop the concept that one spelling can represent different sounds e.g. head, break. Children will learn about the etymology of words.