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Phonics

For phonics, we use the world-renowned Jolly Phonics which is being used in more than 100 countries in five continents.

Jolly Phonics uses the synthetic phonics method of teaching letter sounds for reading and writing in a way that is fun and multi-sensory. Following the mastery of sounds, children learn to decode phonetic words which helps them to become fluent beginner readers.

The benefits of the early introduction to literacy through Jolly Phonics include:

  • Improved cognitive development
  • Improved confidence & self-esteem
  • Enhanced emotional and social skills
  • Better chance of academic success in school and occupational success after school
  • Improved oral communication and motor skills
  • An overall love for reading, writing and learning

Jolly Phonics is validated by the DfE as a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme.

Autumn

Jolly Phonics is taught from the beginning of the Reception Year. Pupils entering Reception will have experienced a range of listening activities and will have acquired a sound underpinning of phonological awareness. They will be able to distinguish between speech sounds and many will be able to blend and segment words orally.

Pupils will be taught the 26 letters in the English alphabet system. They will therefore move from oral blending and segmenting to blending and segmenting using letters (graphemes).  They will also be introduced to reading two-syllable words, captions, and tricky words.

During the first half term in Reception, pupils will be taught to recognise most of the letters in the alphabet system. They will learn one new letter/sound per day and will begin to use phonic strategies to blend for reading and segment for spelling these phonetically regular words from the very start.  Every lesson follows a highly structured teaching sequence which begins by revisiting prior learning in order for pupils to secure their knowledge of taught phoneme (sounds) / grapheme (letters) correspondences. Following this, the teach element introduces pupils to one new phoneme/grapheme correspondence. They will also learn to form this letter correctly, identify both the upper / lower case letter, learn the letter name and the sound (phoneme) as well as learn long and short vowel sounds in order to avoid any misconceptions from the very beginning. In the practice part of the lesson, pupils will engage in blending and segmenting activities. These skills will be taught using explicit phonic strategies that are consistently used throughout every year group within school to provide consistency and clarity. Finally, the apply part of the lesson gives pupils the opportunity to use their understanding of the new phoneme/grapheme within a ‘real’ reading or writing situation.

The phonics lesson is delivered using a multi-sensory approach. Pupils are taught letters/sounds via an engaging story, song with an action (mnemonic) and visually engaging illustrations. This allows for a secure retention of new learning due to its ability to inspire young learners.

Spring

At the beginning of the spring term, pupils will continually revisit and consolidate their prior learning. They will also be introduced to increasingly complex phonic concepts such as the most commonly used digraphs. These are two letter representations that when they feature together in a word, make just one sound (phoneme). The English Alphabet system may only have 26 letters, but there are 42 different spoken sounds depending on the combination of letters that go together in a word. An example of this is: sh –ee-p. Sheep contains two digraphs (two letters that make one sound).

Pupils learn the consonant digraphs such as: ch, sh, th, ng. They will then progress onto learning vowel digraphs such as: (ooer, ar, oi), (ai, ee/or, ie, oa), (ue, ou). Children will continue to apply their blending and segmenting skills in reading and writing focusing on words containing two-syllables and complex words containing digraphs. They will also learn to read and spell some more Tricky Words (he, she, me, we, be, was, are, all, do).

The digraphs learnt so far will be constantly revisited. During this half term, pupils will learn the trigraphs (three letters that make one sound) igh, air, ear, ure. They will also blend and segment words and sentences containing the new correspondences. Pupils will also progress onto Section 4 of the Jolly Phonics programme where they will learn to read and spell words containing adjacent consonants (CCVC and CVCC). Words such as: frog, spot, tent, lamp.

Summer

During the summer term, pupils will continue to progress through the Jolly Phonics programme and will be taught to blend and segment increasing complex words that contain both adjacent consonants and all of the digraphs and trigraphs introduced previously. In addition to this, pupils will also be taught to form capital letters correctly.

As pupils progress towards the end of their Jolly Phonics programme in the Reception Year, they will continue to consolidate their phonic knowledge by applying their skills of digraphs / trigraphs and will be challenged to use increasingly complex words through reading sentences and writing dictated captions. Within this Section, pupils will also be introduced to words that contain Split Vowel Digraphs (a_e, e_e, i_e, o_eu_e) such as: sale, Pete, bike.

By the end of the year, pupils will have also been taught to recognise a number of new tricky words: go, no, so, they, you, one, by, come, some, your, said, here, there, only, old, like, have, live, give, little, down, what, when, why, where, who, which.

You can view videos for each of the five key skills by clicking on the buttons below

Learning the Letter Sounds in Jolly Phonics 0:57

This short video shows how the letter sounds in Jolly Phonics can be introduced to children. Each letter sound is accompanied by a song, story and action, giving the children multiple ways of learning each new sound.

Learning Letter Formation in Jolly Phonics 2:13

This short video shows how learning letter formation in Jolly Phonics can be introduced to children. Children need to form each letter the correct way. The letter ‘c’ is introduced in the early stages as this forms the basic shape of some other letters.

Blending in Jolly Phonics 1:51

This short video shows how blending in Jolly Phonics can be taught to children. Each letter sound is accompanied by a song, story and action, giving the children multiple ways of learning each new sound.

Identifying Sound in Words 2:32

This short video shows how identifying the sounds in words, or segmenting, in Jolly Phonics can be taught to children. The easiest way to know how to spell a word is to listen for the sounds in that word. This is the reverse of blending.

Tricky Words in Jolly Phonics 1:55

This short video shows how Tricky Words in Jolly Phonics can be taught to children. Tricky Words are not phonetically regular and therefore need to simply be learnt. There are a number of ways in which Jolly Phonics teaches these words.

Please find useful links below

Jolly Phonics Curriculum
Jolly Phonics Curriculum

Should you have any questions about the curriculum, please contact Mr Joseph via info@thelight-school.org