What is Phonics?
What is phonics?
Phonics is a way of helping children learn to read and write by teaching them the 44 sounds in the English language and the letters used to write each sound. It is a great way to help children begin to read and write quickly and with confidence.
Phonics is split into six phases. Each phase teaches a different skill which helps
children become successful readers and writers. Phase 1 is usually started in Preschool when children are around three years old and Phase 6 is usually taught in Year 2 when children are around seven years old.
Throughout their phonics journey children will become more confident at recognising the sounds that different letters make and will become experts at blending and segmenting.
Phase 1 - Phonological awareness
Phase 1 is all about phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to listen to, identify and play around with sounds. No letters are taught in Phase 1. By the end of Phase 1 children should be able to orally blend and orally segment the individual sounds in words. Phase 1 lays the foundation skills for all of the higher phases.
Phase 2 - single letter sounds and CVC words
Phase 2 introduces children to 20 letters and their corresponding sounds. Children use these letters to read and write simple CVC words (words with a consonant sound, then a vowel sound and then a consonant sound). Phase 2 is usually taught during the first term of Reception when children are around four years old. By the end of Phase 2 children should be able to read and write simple phrases containing CVC words.
Phase 3 - digraphs and trigraphs
Phase 3 introduces children to the remaining six letters of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds. Phase 3 also teachers 25 letter and sound combinations. Many of the sounds taught in this phase are digraphs and trigraphs. Phase 3 is usually taught during the second term of Reception when children are around four and five years old. By the end of Phase 3 children should be able to read and write simple phrases using the sounds they know and make phonetically plausible attempts at reading and writing unknown words.
Phase 4 - Adjacent consonants and polysyllabic words
Phase 4 does not teach any new letter and sound combinations. Phase 4 introduces children to consonant blend words, polysyllabic words and reading and writing sentences. Phase 4 gives children the opportunity to practise the skills learnt in previous phases and develop confidence with using the sounds they know already. Phase 4 is usually taught during the final term of Reception when children are around four and five years old. By the end of Phase 4 children should be confident at reading and writing more complex words and sentences.
Phase 5 - Alternative graphemes
Phase 5 introduces children to alternative graphemes. Children use these alternative graphemes to read and write sentences. Phase 5 is usually taught in Year 1 when children are around five and six years old. By the end of Phase 5 children should be able to use their knowledge of alternative graphemes to spell a wide range of words correctly and use their decoding skills to confidently read more challenging words.
Phase 6 - Tenses, suffixes, prefixes and spelling rules
Phase 6 introduces children to spelling rules and grammar. Children learn how to use past and present tenses and how to add prefixes and suffixes. Phase 6 is usually taught in Year 2 when children are six and seven years old. By the end of Phase 6 children should be able to read and write longer texts and apply the spelling and grammar rules to their reading and writing.