Phonics — An Intro for Parents

What is Phonics?

First things first — Phonics is a method of teaching children to read.  It is based on how letters (or groups of letters) represent sounds.  Phonics is taught in Reception and Key Stage 1. 

How is Phonics taught?

The UK Government requires all English schools to teach Phonics using a systematic, synthetic approach.  Let’s break that down:

Systematic — this means that letters and sounds are taught in a specific order (no, it’s not quite as easy as A, B, C…)

Synthetic — this means that pupils learn individual letters and sounds before they learn how to put them together to make (or ‘synthesise’) and say whole words.  E.g. pupils learn how to read the letters ‘c’, ‘a’ and ‘t’ individually before they learn how to read the word ‘cat’.

So, lots of schools teach Phonics using what’s called an SSP — or to put it another way, a ‘sss’-‘sss’-‘puh’ — (a Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme).  There are many SSPs out there that the government have approved, but they are all based on similar principles.

You might be thinking “Boy, this is dull,” but it’s worth knowing why Phonics is taught the way it is — it’ll be easier to provide extra or at-home support if you follow the same teaching methods.

Phonics is often taught in short, easily-digestible sessions of about 20 minutes.  In these sessions, letters and sounds will be introduced, explained and practised. By the end of Year 1, pupils are expected to be able to read a wide combination of letters and sounds with some fluency, including those in unfamiliar words.

How is Phonics Assessed?

At the end of Year 1, children are assessed by the Phonics Screening Check. It’s not as bad as it sounds — it’s just a short test (generally taking between 4 and 9 minutes) that is set by a teacher, usually one-on-one.

During the screening check, pupils are shown 40 words and asked to read them out loud.  Some of the words will be real words and some of them will be fake words, for example, the names of made-up creatures like ‘vap’, ‘osk’ and ‘ect’. Pupils will always be told when words are real or fake — the fake words are there to make sure pupils can sound out words they haven’t seen before.  This means that pupils can’t score highly by relying on their vocabulary: they need to apply their Phonics knowledge.

I know, I know: it seems brutal to use words that aren’t even real, but it’s a good way to make sure children are tested on their Phonics skills…

The Phonics Screening Check is split into 2 sections: Section 1 tests simpler, shorter words and Section 2 tests slightly longer and more complicated words.  Pupils are allowed to take rest breaks during the test, either within or between sections — they don’t have to do it all in one go.

What Happens After the Phonics Screening Check?

All pupils will receive a score out of 40.  Broadly speaking, a score of around 32 (or above) means that a pupil is performing to the expected standard.

You should find out your child’s results before the end of the Summer Term.  You’ll also be told whether your child is meeting the expected standard.  If your child has not met the expected standard, don’t panic — the school should tell you what support they plan to offer, and your child will still be able to progress to Year 2 (they'll just have to take the check again a bit later).

What now?

If you’re still unsure about what exactly Phonics is, or just hungry for more info, then check out this helpful introductory video.

You could also head over to this blog post for some extra help on all the new Phonics lingo you might start hearing.

Next, take a short trip over to the CGP+ phonics page — it’s filled to the brim with worksheets, PowerPoints, activities and games to make Phonics fun.  A great place to start is this Body Percussion presentation:  It’ll have you singing, dancing (and even learning) in no time.

That’s it for now — enjoy your frolics with Phonics! ✌