What is Phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children to read by helping them understand the link between letters and the sounds they make. By learning these letter‑sound relationships, children can blend sounds together to read words and segment them to spell. This approach helps children become confident readers because it teaches them how to decode new words independently, which supports fluency and comprehension. Phonics forms the foundation of early reading and ensures children have the essential skills they need as they begin their reading journey.

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Essential Letters and Sounds
 

At our school, we follow Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) as our chosen systematic synthetic phonics programme and it is designed to help all children learn to read accurately and fluently. ELS provides a clear, consistent structure to daily phonics lessons, with children learning new sounds, revisiting previous learning and practising decoding through carefully matched decodable books. The programme supports children in building strong reading habits by ensuring that everything they read contains only the sounds they have been taught.

How you can help at home:

Parents can support their child by practising the sounds taught in school, listening to them read their decodable book regularly and encouraging them to blend sounds together when reading unfamiliar words. Revisiting flash cards, discussing new sounds and celebrating small reading successes all make a big difference. We also ask that you read your child's 'Share a Story book' with them to strengthen their listening and attention skills, build vocabulary and develop a love of reading. Working together, we can help your child grow into a confident, enthusiastic reader.