Phonics

What is phonics?   

Phonics forms an important aspect of supporting young children with developing the skills they need to begin to read and write. This is because phonics helps children to decipher different sounds and allows them to understand how to distinguish different words within the English language.

Early years phonics teaching usually begins before children even start to learn letter names and sounds. Level 1 phonics (or Phase 1 phonics), supports young children with developing their listening skills, as well as supporting their phonological and phonemic awareness. 

The idea behind Level 1 phonics activities is that young children are able to develop the skills and knowledge needed to learn and use letter sounds in order to read and write. Letter sounds are usually taught in early years school settings within the UK through a specifically created phonics programme.    

Systematic synthetic phonics in early years

Development is very much an individual process, so when children begin learning letter names and sounds may vary from child to child. However, broadly speaking, most early years children usually begin to take part in frequent phonics sessions once they reach reception age. These phonics sessions are, more often than not, taught on a daily basis using a carefully designed systematic synthetic phonics programme.

At St. Mary’s, we use The Twinkl Phonics validated scheme. 

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

At the end of the reception year, children are assessed against the early learning goals (ELGs). These ELGs describe what children are able to do if they have reached the expected level of development. Within the EYFS there are seven areas of learning and development. Effective phonics development forms part of the literacy ELGs, specifically relating to the 'word reading' and 'writing' elements:

ELG: Word Reading

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs.
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending.
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.

ELG: Writing

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
• Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others. 

From the literacy ELGs we can clearly see the importance of supporting early years phonics development. We can also determine that sufficient phonics development forms the basis of EYFS children being able to begin to read and write.

Twinkl-Phonics-Glossary.pdf