Phonics:

A Guide for Parents

 Introduction

At Settle Primary School we know how

important it is for teachers and parents to
work together to give your child the best
start. Reading together at home is one of the
easiest but most important ways in which you
can help your child. To support your child in
becoming an effective and confident reader
we hope to work with you to develop their
knowledge of phonics (letter sounds) to enable
them to decode different words they may
come across. Nursery, Reception and Key
Stage 1 classes engage in a daily phonics
teaching session and in Key Stage 2 we
continue to teach phonics and spelling every
day.
Through this booklet we hope to give you an
overview of phonics teaching with your child,
and some ideas for how you can support
your child at home.
 A definition of a phoneme and a grapheme.
Your child will need to have a good knowledge of
both.
 Letters and Sounds
We are following Government guidance with
regards to 6 phases of phonics teaching. This
six phase teaching programme focuses on
high quality phonic work. The Intention is to
“…equip children who are 5 with the phonic
knowledge and skills they need to become
fluent readers by the age of 7.” By the end of
Year Two children should have completed
phase 6. Which phase the children should be
working on is assessed by the teacher, and
appropriate teaching is planned for.
Below is information about the 6 phases,
and the progression between them.
 Phase 1

Children explore and experiment

with sounds, differentiate between
sounds and become familiar with
rhyme, rhythm and alliteration
(from birth to the end of Nursery)

This phase continues throughout their

Primary Education

SEVEN ASPECTS:
• Environmental sound
• Instrumental sounds
• Body percussion
• Rhythm and rhyme
• Alliteration
• Voice sounds
• Oral blending and segmentiing
 Phase 2
To introduce grapheme/phoneme (letter/sound)
correspondence (beginning of Reception)

Children know that words are constructed from

phonemes and that phonemes are represented by
graphemes. They have a knowledge of a small
selection of common consonants and vowels (which
usually begin with s, a, t, p, i, n) and begin to put
them together to read and spell CVC words

Phase 3
To teach children one grapheme for each of the 44
phonemes in order to read and spell simple
regular words. (Reception)
Children link sounds to letters, naming and sounding
the letters of the alphabet. They hear and say
sounds in the order they occur in the word and
read simple words by blending the phonemes from
left to right. They recognise common digraphs (e.g.
th) and read some high frequency words
 Phase 4
To teach children to read and spell words
containing adjacent consonants (end of
Reception)
Children will be able to blend and segment adjacent
consonants in words and apply this skill when
reading and spelling.
Children will move from CVC words (pot, sheep) to
CVCC words (pots) and CCVC words (spot) and
then CCVCC words (spots)

Phase 5

Teaching children to recognise and use alternative ways of

pronouncing the graphemes and spelling the phonemes
already taught (Year One)
Children will use alternative ways of pronouncing
the graphemes (e.g. the ‘c’ in coat and city).
Recognise an increasing number of high frequency
words automatically. Knowledge and skills of phonics
will be the prime approach to reading and spelling.
 Phase 6

Teaching children to develop their skill and

automaticity in reading and spelling, creating ever
increasing capacity to attend to reading for
meaning. (Year Two)
Applying phonic knowledge to recognise and spell
an increasing number of complex words. Read an
increasing number of high and medium frequency
words independently and automatically

Your Child’s class teacher will be able to

inform you which stage they are working on.
But remember to also ask your children
what phonemes (sounds) they have been
doing each day in class!
We use Jolly Phonics to support our
phonics teaching.

Learning the letter sounds

In Jolly Phonics the main sounds of English are
taught, not just the alphabet. The sounds are in
groups. Some sounds are written with two letters,
such as ee and or. These are called digraphs. oo
and th can each make two different sounds, as in
book and moon, that and three. To distinguish
between these
two sounds, the digraph is represented in two
forms.

Each sound has an action which helps children

remember the letter(s) that represent it. As a
child progresses you can point to the letters and
see how quickly they can do the action and say
the sound. As a child becomes more confident,
the actions are no longer necessary. There is a
list of all of the letter sounds and their
corresponding actions later in this guide.
Children should learn each letter by its sound,
not its name. For example, the letter a should be
called a (as in ant) not ai (as in aim).
Similarly, the letter n should be nn (as in net),
not en. This will help in blending. The names of
each letter can follow later.

The letters are not introduced in alphabetical

order. The first group (s, a, t, i, p, n) has been
chosen because they make more simple three-
letter words than any other six letters. The
letters b and d are introduced in different groups
to avoid confusion. Sounds that have more than
one way of being written are initially taught in
one form only. For example, the sound ai (rain)
is taught first, and
then alternatives a-e (gate)and ay (day) follow
later.
Examples can be found on the Jolly Phonics
Website: www.jollylearning.co.uk
Also, have a look on the school website for
sound files for each phoneme and the ‘do’s and
don’ts’ at the end of this booklet!
 Blending
Blending is the process of saying the individual
sounds in a word and then running them together
to make the word. For example, sounding out d-
o- g and making dog. It is a technique every child
will need to learn, and it improves with practice.
To start with you should sound out the word and
see if a child can hear it, giving the answer if
necessary. Some children take longer than others
to hear this. The sounds must be said quickly to
hear the word. It is easier if the first sound is said
slightly louder.

Remember that some sounds (digraphs) are

represented by two letters, such as sh. Children
should sound out the digraph (sh), not the
individual letters ( s - h ). With practice they will
be able to blend the digraph as one sound in a
word. So, a word like rain should be sounded out
r-ai-n, and feet as f-ee-t. This is difficult to begin
with and takes practice.
You will find it helpful to be able to distinguish
between a blend (such as st) and a digraph
(such as sh). In a blend the two sounds, s and
t can each be heard. In a digraph this is not
so.

When sounding out a blend, encourage

children to say the two sounds as one unit, so
fl-a-g not f-l-a-g. This will lead to greater
fluency when reading.

Some words in English have an irregular

spelling and cannot be read by blending,
such as said, was and one. Unfortunately,
many of these are common words. The
irregular parts have to be remembered.
These are called the ‘tricky words’.
 Identifying sounds in words
The easiest way to know how to spell a word is to
listen for the sounds in that word. Even with the
tricky words an understanding of letter sounds
can help. Start by having your child listen for the
first sound in a word. Games like I-Spy are ideal
for this. Next try listening for the end sounds, as
the middle sound of a word is the hardest to hear.
Begin with simple three-letter words such as cat
or hot. A good idea is to say a word and tap out
the sounds. Three taps means three sounds. Say
each sound as you tap. Take care with digraphs.
The word fish, for example, has four letters but
only three sounds, f-i-sh. Rhyming games and
poems also help tune the ears to the sounds in
words. Other games to play are:
a) Add a sound: what do I get if I add a p to
the beginning of i n k? Answer: pink. Other
examples are m-ice, b-us, etc.
b) Take away a sound: what do I get if I take
away p from pink? Answer: ink. Other examples
as above, and f-lap, s-lip, c-rib, d-rag, p-ant, m-
end, s-top, b-end,s-t-rip, etc.
 Spelling the tricky words
There are several ways of learning
tricky spellings:
1) Look, Cover, Write and Check. Look at
the word to see which bit is tricky. Ask the
child to try writing the word in the air saying
the letters. Cover the word over and see if
the child can write it correctly. Check to
make sure.
2) Say it as it sounds. Say the word so
each sound is heard. For example, the word
was is said as ‘wass’, to rhyme with mass,
the word Monday is said as ‘M-on-day’.
3) Mnemonics. The initial letter of each
word in a saying gives the correct spelling of
a word. For example, laugh – Laugh At Ugly
Goat’s Hair.
4) Using joined-up (cursive) writing
also improves spelling.
 Letters and sounds: High Frequency Words Checklist

The Tricky Words are in bold

Phase 2

a an as at if in
is it of off on can
dad had back and get big
him his not got up mum
but the to I no go
into
Phase 3

will that this then them with

see for now down look too
he she we me be was
you they all are my her
Phase 4

went It’s from children just help

said have like so do some
come were there little one when
out what
Phase 5

don’t old I’m by time house

about your day made came make
here saw very put oh their
people Mr Mrs looked called asked
could
The Next 200 High Frequency Words
Water away good want over
how did man going where
would or took school think
home who didn’t ran know
bear can’t again cat long
things new after wanted eat
everyone our two has yes
play take thought dog well
find more I’ll round tree
magic shouted us other food
fox through way been stop
must red door right sea
these began boy animals never
next first work lots need
that’s baby fish gave mouse
something bed may still found
live say soon night narrator
small car couldn’t three head
king town I’ve around every
garden fast only many laughed
let’s much suddenly told another
great why cried keep room
last jumped because even am
before gran clothes tell key
fun place mother sat boat
window sleep feet morning queen
each book its green different
let girl which inside run
any under hat snow air
trees bad tea top eyes
fell friends box dark grandad
there’s looking end than best
better hot sun across gone
hard floppy really wind wish
eggs once please thing stopped
ever miss most cold park
lived birds duck horse rabbit
white coming he’s river liked
giant looks use along plants
dragon pulled we’re fly grow
 The Actions
Group 1
s Weave hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss.
a Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants crawling on you and say a, a, a.

t Turn head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t.

i Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling fingers at end of noise and squeak i, i, i.
p Pretend to puff out candles and say p, p, p.

n Make a noise, as if you are a plane – hold arms out and say nnnnnn.

Group 2
c k Raise hands and snap fingers as if playing castanets and say ck, ck, ck.
e Pretend to tap an egg on the side of a pan and crack it into the pan, saying eh, eh, eh.
h Hold hand in front of mouth panting as if you are shaking out of breath and say h, h, h
r Pretend to be a puppy holding a piece of rag, shaking head from side to side, and say rrrrrr.

m Rub tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm.

d Beat hands up and down as if playing a drum and say d, d, d.

Group 3
g Spiral hand down, as if water going down the drain, and say g, g, g.

o Pretend to turn light switch on and off and say o, o, o, o.

u Pretend to be putting up an umbrella and say u, u, u.
l Pretend to lick a lollipop and say l, l, l, l, l, l.
f Let hands gently come together as if toy fish deflating, and say f, f, f, f, f, f.

b Pretend to hit a ball with a bat and say b, b, b.

Group 4
ai Cup hand over ear and say ai, ai, ai
j Pretend to wobble on a plate and say j, j, j.
oa Bring hand over mouth as if you have done something wrong and say oh!
ie Stand to attention and salute, saying ie ie.
ee or Put hands on head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore.
Group 5

z Put arms out at sides and pretend to be a bee, saying zzzzzz.

w Blow on to open hand, as if you are the wind, and say wh, wh, wh.

ng Imagine you are a weightlifter, and pretend to lift a heavy weight above your head, saying
ng…

v Pretend to be holding the steering wheel of a van and say vvvvvv.

oo OO Move head back and forth as if it is the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock, saying u, oo; u, oo
(Little and long oo)

Group 6
y Pretend to be eating a yoghurt and say y, y, y.
x Pretend to take an x-ray of someone with an x-ray gun and say ks, ks, ks.
ch Move arms at sides as if you are a train and say ch, ch, ch.

sh Place index finger of lips and say sh sh sh.

th th Pretend to be naughty clowns and stick out tongue a little for the th, and further for the
th sounds (this and thumb).

Group 7

qu Make a duck´s beak with your hands and say qu, qu, qu.
ou Pretend your finger is a needle and prick thumb saying ou, ou, ou.
oi Cup hands around mouth and shout to another boat saying oi! Ship ahoy!
ue Point to people around you and say you, you, you.

er Roll hands over each other like a mixer and say er er er.
ar Open mouth wide and say ah.
 Phonics games that can be played at home

1. Mood Sounds
Say a letter sound and ask the children to repeat it. Ask the children to say the
sound as if they were angry, happy, frightened etc.

2. Gobbler/Muncher Game
Use a cereal box to make a person. E.g.Gordon the gobbler. Have a large hole for
the mouth. Collect a variety of objects beginning with 2 different sounds. Ask your
child to select an object from your tray that begins with a certain sound. Children
feed the object to the gobbler with replies with an mmmm sound if they are correct.

3. Hoop game
Get 2 hoops, trays or plates and place a letter card on each of them e.g. s and a.
Have a variety of objects beginning with these 2 sounds. Ask your child to select an
object and say the name of it. Repeat it several
times and then ask your child to place it on the correct letter tray.

4. Croaker
Introduce a puppet to your child. Explain that it is finding it hard to say some words.
Ask your to select an object out of a bag. The puppet pronounces it incorrectly –
maybe missing off the initial or end sound. The children help the puppet say the word
correctly emphasising the part of the word that was missing. E.g. The puppet says
‘encil’ the child can say the word correctly ‘pencil’ and then the adult can emphasise
the ‘p’ sound that was missing.

5. Rogue Sound Game

Show a variety of objects to your child. All of the objects to have the same initial
sound except for one item. Children to identify which is the rogue item. E.g. sun,
sausages, cup, scissors.

6. Bingo
Bingo boards can easily be made to suit the ability of your child. You can use them in
a variety of different ways to help your child learn the letters of the alphabet. Make
a board containing 6 letters of the alphabet. Then make a set of 6 letter cards that
match the board.
board. You can make 2 boards to play a matching game with your child or one of you
could be the bingo caller and say the letter on the cards and the other person finds
the letter on their board and puts a counter or toy on it. You can just match the
letters or you could have some objects to match to the letter boards. Your child can
then pick an object and place it on the correct letter to show what sound the object
begins with.

When choosing objects around the house to use for sound

games ensure that they begin with the single sound that
you are working on.

For example:

tiger train

pencil present

goat grass