Phonics.

At St Francis Xavier, we follow the Read Write Inc. (RWI) scheme when delivering our phonics sessions each day. We believe that RWI phonics provides the concrete foundations of learning for children to flourish as they grow with a love for reading throughout school. Through the systematic teaching of phonics, children are able to develop their fluency while also building upon their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. Through Read, Write, Inc phonics children learn an alphabetic code, each with a matching rhyme which helps the children to retain the sound information. All reading books progress cumulatively, matched to the sound’s children are learning and already know to ensure fluency yet challenge.

Along with daily phonics lessons, some children receive additional support with reading through 'Fast Track Phonics'. In the Early Years, children can access the provision to practise the skills which have been taught in the sessions. Children higher up in school can use resources to scaffold reading and writing where necessary.

Thank you to all KS1 parents who attended our phonics workshop, it was great to see so many of our parents attending and to hear positive feedback about the content of the meeting. 

Thank you to all parents who attend our EYFS phonics workshop. We hope this was a great help with the start of your child's journey with phonics. 

In Nursery children begin their phonics journey by working through the stages of phonological awareness. They work through structured activities and materials that are used to teach early phonological awareness skills, paving the way for the systematic teaching of phonics, Read Write Inc. (RWI) later on in the year. We focus on:

• general sound discrimination
• environmental sounds
• instrumental sounds
• body percussion
• rhythm and rhyme
• voice sounds
• alliteration
• finally oral blending and segmenting

 After covering all these areas, most children will begin learning their set one sounds.

Useful websites for Parents

Please find a list of websites that you may find useful in helping you and your child  learn about phonics. Games and fun activity websites are also included.

http://jollylearning.co.uk/ - Games and information for parents

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ - many games to play

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/ - fun games for the children to play

http://www.ictgames.com/literacy.html  - fun games for the children to play

http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/kentict_home.cfm  - fun games for the children to play and information for parents

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/  - fun games for the children to play

http://www.starfall.com/  - fun games for the children to play

http://www.firstschoolyears.com/  - fun games for the children to play

Sparklebox - lots of resources to print off and help you support your child at home

BBC Bitesize - many games to play covering all areas of the curriculum