Phonics
St. Anthony’s Catholic Primary School follows the Read Write Inc. Programme written by Ruth Miskin for the teaching and learning of Phonics.
Our children are taught one way of representing the 44 main sounds of English first, and then go on to learn the alternative spellings later on. Children are taught to recognise the sounds and to put them together (‘sound blend’ them) into words for reading.
When teaching the letter sounds, it is important to remember to keep them very ‘pure’ and distinct, to help with sound-blending later on. To enable your child to gain confidence in reading, they should only be asked to read words containing letter sounds they know securely.
Set 1 Sounds
These are the Set 1 Speed Sounds written with one letter:
m a s d t i n p g o c k u b f e l h r j v y w z x
These are the sounds written with two letters (your child will call these ‘special friends’):
sh th ch qu ng nk ck
Check if your child can read these sounds. Make sure they say sounds like ‘mmm’, not letter names like ‘em’. Watch the Sound Pronunciation Guide video to help you.
If your child is learning Set 1 Speed Sounds, help them to:
- Complete the Speed Sounds practice sheets for the Speed Sounds they have learnt.
Set 2 sounds
These are the Set 2 Speed Sounds:
ay ee igh ow (as in blow) oo (as in zoo)
oo (as in look) ar or air ir ou (as in out) oy
Check if your child can read these sounds.
If your child is learning the Set 2 Speed Sounds, help them to:
- Complete the Speed Sounds practice sheets for the Speed Sounds they have learnt.
- Read the eBooks at Red Ditty level, then Green level and then Purple level, in order. We recommend children read each eBook three times, as they would at school: once to read the words correctly, a second time with more fluency, and a third time in a ‘storyteller voice’ that shows their understanding.
Set 3 sounds
These are Set 3 Speed Sounds:
ea (as in tea)
oi (as in spoil)
a–e (as in cake)
i–e (as in smile)
o–e (as in home)
u–e (as in huge)
aw (as in yawn)
are (as in care)
ur (as in nurse)
er (as in letter)
ow (as in brown)
ai (as in snail)
oa (as in goat)
ew (as in chew)
ire (as in fire)
ear (as in hear)
ure (as in pure)
Check if your child can read these sounds.
If your child is learning Set 3 Speed Sounds, help them to:
- Complete the Speed Sounds practice sheets for the Speed Sounds they have learnt.
- Read the eBooks at Pink level, then Orange level and then Yellow level, in order. We recommend children read each eBook three times, as they would at school: once to read the words correctly, a second time with more fluency, and a third time in a ‘storyteller voice’ that shows their understanding.
Videos
The videos below will help you to understand our approach to teaching reading and support you in reading at home with your child.
Fresh Start
Fresh Start is a component of Read Write Inc. that has been developed specifically for struggling readers aged 9 to 13. This offers our children in Years 5 and 6 a second chance to catch up and become fluent readers before they move on to secondary school.
At St Anthony’s, Fresh Start children enjoy sessions daily. These sessions teach children word decoding (simply put, to read words) and reading comprehension (how to read and discuss what they have read).
As with Read Write Inc., an initial assessment allows us to place each child in a group that suits him/her best. The same principles are applied to teaching and learning as the children work through a large number of reading and writing materials written specifically for their age group and interests.