Reading and Phonics
We want to help all our children to be successful readers who love reading.
We hope that the information on this page will help you to understand our approach to reading and phonics, and give you ideas for how you can help at home.
If you have any questions about reading or phonics at Buckingham Park, please speak to your child's class teacher to make an appointment to see a member of staff through the school office.
We understand that synthetic phonics can be confusing for some parents. Lesley Clarke has a brilliant page which aims to demystify this and is available at: https://www.lesleyclarkesyntheticphonics.co.uk/index.php/parents/276-understanding-synthetic-phonics
How do we teach Phonics at Buckingham Park?
We use 'Lesley Clarke's Letters and Sounds' synthetic phonics scheme to structure phonics and early reading teaching with all children.
Who is Lesley Clarke?
Lesley Clarke spent over 25 years as a classroom teacher (mostly in Reception and Y1) and has over 20 years experience as a literacy consultant, supporting schools to develop and improve their teaching of phonics and early reading and writing. Her phonics programme brings together teaching resources she has developed and trialled over many years and it was validated by the Department for Education in 2022.
You can find out more about Lesley Clarke here.
What is Systematic Synthetic Phonics?
All schools have to teach systematic synthetic phonics as part of the National Curriculum. This involves children learning:
Which year groups use the phonics programme?
The programme covers the direct teaching of phonics in Reception and KS1. Although some of the listening activities are suitable for Nursery age children, children in our nursery focus on activities to prepare for the direct teaching of systematic synthetic phonics. These include rhythm and rhyme activities, alliteration and voice sounds as the basis for oral blending and segmenting and general sound discrimination (including environmental sounds, instrumental sounds and body percussion)
How often will my child have phonics lessons at school?
Everyday for a discreet 20 minute session. Children who need some additional support with learning phonics may have an extra 10 min group lesson several times a week and some may also have a regular 2-5 min 1:1 session with an adult.
This is supplemented with phonic activities throughout the day including at the end of the day, while lining up for lunch and other opportunities throughout the day. This means that all children will receive in the region of 30 minutes of phonics teaching per day.
Every child is also heard read directly to an adult on a weekly basis.
What will the programme teach my child in Reception?
During the year your child will learn one grapheme (letter or groups of letters) to represent each of the 44 sounds in English. They will learn to read and spell words containing these graphemes, as well as some common words containing ‘tricky’ bits. The section below outlines the learning in each term, but please remember that some children will progress through the programme at a faster rate and others more slowly, so this is just a guide.
Children will be taught…
Autumn Term:
Spring Term:
Summer Term:
During the year your child will learn a range of other graphemes (letter or groups of letters which represent a sound) for each of the 44 sounds in English and will start to learn some rules to help them choose the correct grapheme for a sound when spelling words. They will also be taught that some graphemes can represent more than one sound. They will learn to read and spell words containing these new graphemes, as well as some more common words containing ‘tricky’ bits. The section below outlines the learning in each term, but please remember that some children will progress through the programme at a faster rate and others more slowly, so this is just a guide.
Children will be taught…
Autumn Term:
First half:
Spring and Summer Terms:
How will my child remember the sounds represented by each letter/groups of letters (graphemes)?
The programme provides memory aids (called mnemonics) to help the children read and write each grapheme. When learning the sound represented by a single letter, an image is provided in which the letter is made to look like an object that starts with the sound that letter represents (eg cat represents the /c/ sound). A simple story linked to the object teaches the children how to form that letter (eg to form the letter ‘c’ they stroke the cat from head to tail).
Examples of these mnemonics can be found at Lesley Clarke's website and the link is at the bottom of this page.
For all the reception graphemes which contain more than one letter and the first set of new graphemes in Y1, the 2/3 single letter images are combined with a story which links them and provides the sound the grapheme represents.
How will my child learn to read the tricky words?
A tricky word is presented to the children initially with the tricky grapheme(s) in a different colour. The children still sound the word out, but have to remember the grapheme(s) in a different colour do not make their usual sound.
How will my child learn to spell the tricky words?
The programme provides a memory aid (called a mnemonic) to help the children spell each tricky word. This includes the word they are learning to spell. The mnemonics may be a song or a catchy sentence or something visual.
How will my child learn to choose the correct grapheme for a sound when they are writing words?
The children learn which grapheme is the ‘best bet’ when representing each sound at the beginning/middle or end of a word and this information is recorded on ‘best bet train cards’ displayed on the classroom wall. Children are encouraged to use the ‘best bet’ rules to select the most likely grapheme and check to see if it looks right. Spellings will be phonetically plausible at this stage (not 100% accurate). Children will continue to practise using the ‘best bets’ when spelling words in Y2 and into KS2.
When will my child start to read books with words?
As soon as your child is able to do both these things:
Until they are ready to read 'books with words', your child will be reading textless books. These still develop their comprehension skills, as well as their ability to tell a story in their own words - both of which are important.
Which books will my child be reading?
Children will be reading a variety of good quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts matched closely to their progression through the phonics programme. Your child will have been taught all the graphemes and tricky words in the texts they are reading
Further information, including how you can support your children with Phonics and Early Reading at home can be found at https://www.lesleyclarkesyntheticphonics.co.uk/index.php/parents/366-information-for-parents-carers-of-children-in-schools-using-lesley-clarke-s-letters-and-sounds-programme
We hope that the information on this page will help you to understand our approach to reading and phonics, and give you ideas for how you can help at home.
If you have any questions about reading or phonics at Buckingham Park, please speak to your child's class teacher to make an appointment to see a member of staff through the school office.
We understand that synthetic phonics can be confusing for some parents. Lesley Clarke has a brilliant page which aims to demystify this and is available at: https://www.lesleyclarkesyntheticphonics.co.uk/index.php/parents/276-understanding-synthetic-phonics
How do we teach Phonics at Buckingham Park?
We use 'Lesley Clarke's Letters and Sounds' synthetic phonics scheme to structure phonics and early reading teaching with all children.
Who is Lesley Clarke?
Lesley Clarke spent over 25 years as a classroom teacher (mostly in Reception and Y1) and has over 20 years experience as a literacy consultant, supporting schools to develop and improve their teaching of phonics and early reading and writing. Her phonics programme brings together teaching resources she has developed and trialled over many years and it was validated by the Department for Education in 2022.
You can find out more about Lesley Clarke here.
What is Systematic Synthetic Phonics?
All schools have to teach systematic synthetic phonics as part of the National Curriculum. This involves children learning:
- the letters/groups of letters (known as graphemes) which represent the 44 sounds in English.
- to identify the sounds represented by each grapheme in a word and put them together to read the word.
- to break words down into their smallest units of sound to spell them.
- to read and spell ‘tricky words’ which have a ‘tricky’ part. This is usually a rare grapheme or one not yet known by the child. Some ‘tricky words’ have more than one ‘tricky’ bit.
Which year groups use the phonics programme?
The programme covers the direct teaching of phonics in Reception and KS1. Although some of the listening activities are suitable for Nursery age children, children in our nursery focus on activities to prepare for the direct teaching of systematic synthetic phonics. These include rhythm and rhyme activities, alliteration and voice sounds as the basis for oral blending and segmenting and general sound discrimination (including environmental sounds, instrumental sounds and body percussion)
How often will my child have phonics lessons at school?
Everyday for a discreet 20 minute session. Children who need some additional support with learning phonics may have an extra 10 min group lesson several times a week and some may also have a regular 2-5 min 1:1 session with an adult.
This is supplemented with phonic activities throughout the day including at the end of the day, while lining up for lunch and other opportunities throughout the day. This means that all children will receive in the region of 30 minutes of phonics teaching per day.
Every child is also heard read directly to an adult on a weekly basis.
What will the programme teach my child in Reception?
During the year your child will learn one grapheme (letter or groups of letters) to represent each of the 44 sounds in English. They will learn to read and spell words containing these graphemes, as well as some common words containing ‘tricky’ bits. The section below outlines the learning in each term, but please remember that some children will progress through the programme at a faster rate and others more slowly, so this is just a guide.
Children will be taught…
Autumn Term:
- how to listen to a sequence of 2/3 sounds and put them together to make a word.
- how to break a word down into 2/3 small sounds.
- the sounds represented by the single letters of the alphabet and ‘qu’.
- the sounds represented by these graphemes: ck, ll, ss, ff, zz.
- how to read and spell words with 2/3 sounds containing the graphemes listed above eg hill, cat, duck.
- how to read these tricky words: to, the, no, go, I, he we.
- how to spell these tricky words: the, to.
- to begin to read words ending in ‘s’ eg cats.
- to begin to read words with more than one syllable.
Spring Term:
- the sounds represented by these graphemes: ai (in rain), ee (in see), igh (in night), oa (in coat), oo (in moon), oo (in book), ar (in car), or (in fork), ur (in hurt), ow (in cow), oi (in coin), ear (in hear), air (in chair), er (in longer).
- how to read and spell words with 2/3 sounds containing the single letters and graphemes listed above.
- how to read these tricky words: she, me, be, was, my, you, they, her, all, are.
- how to spell these tricky words: I, no, go.
- how to read words ending in ‘s’ and ‘es’ eg coins, foxes.
- the names of the letters.
Summer Term:
- the sound represented by ‘ve’ (in have, live).
- how to read and spell words with 4/5 sounds containing the single letters and graphemes listed above eg frown, string.
- how to read these tricky words: said, so, have, like, some, come, were, there, little, one, do, when, out, what.
- how to spell these tricky words: he, she, we, me, be, was, you, they, all, are, my, her.
- how to read words ending in ‘est’ & ‘ed eg softest, jumped.
- how to read contractions ending in n’t, ‘ve, ‘ll (in didn’t, we’ve, I’ll)
During the year your child will learn a range of other graphemes (letter or groups of letters which represent a sound) for each of the 44 sounds in English and will start to learn some rules to help them choose the correct grapheme for a sound when spelling words. They will also be taught that some graphemes can represent more than one sound. They will learn to read and spell words containing these new graphemes, as well as some more common words containing ‘tricky’ bits. The section below outlines the learning in each term, but please remember that some children will progress through the programme at a faster rate and others more slowly, so this is just a guide.
Children will be taught…
Autumn Term:
First half:
- the sounds represented by these graphemes: ie (in tie), ue (in blue and fuel), oe (in toe), i-e (in time), o-e (in home), e-e (in these), a-e (in name), u-e (in tune), ay (in day), ou (in loud), ea (in sea), aw (in saw), ir (in girl), ew (in chew and new), oy (in boy), au (in fault), ey (in key), wh (in which), ph (in phone).
- how to read and spell words containing the graphemes listed above.
- how to read these tricky words: oh, their, called, asked, people, looked, Mr, Mrs.
- how to spell these tricky words: said, so, like, have, were, there, some, come.
- the different sounds which these graphemes can represent: a (in cat, acorn, was, bath), e (in bed, being), i (in lid, kind), o (in hot, old), u (in cut, uniform, put), ow (in crowd, snow), ie (in tie, field), ea (in sea, bread), er (in longer, term), y (in yes, try, plenty, cylinder), ch (in chips, school, chef), c (in cat, city), g (in get, gel), ey (in key and grey), le (in candle), ou (in loud, shoulder, group).
- how to read and spell words containing the graphemes listed above.
- how to read these tricky words: water, again, because, who, laughed, work, please, different, friends, where, many, any, mouse, eyes, once, thought, through.
- how to spell these tricky words: when, what, do, one, out, little.
Spring and Summer Terms:
- the sounds represented by these graphemes: oul (in would), a (in wall), al (in walk), our (in your), or (in work), ear ( in learn), tch (in stitch), dge (in badge), ge (in large), se (in noise), ze (in freeze), ce (in prince), se (in purse), st (in listen), gn (in sign), kn (in know), o (in won), al (in half), are (in square), ear (in bear), eer (in cheer), ere (in sphere), mb (in thumb), wr (in write).
- the following endings: ture (in picture), tion (in invitation), ssion (in mission), sion (in division), sure (in measure)
- how to read and spell words containing the graphemes listed above.
- how to choose the correct grapheme for a sound when spelling words.
- how to spell these tricky words: Mr, Mrs, people, oh, looked, called, asked, their.
How will my child remember the sounds represented by each letter/groups of letters (graphemes)?
The programme provides memory aids (called mnemonics) to help the children read and write each grapheme. When learning the sound represented by a single letter, an image is provided in which the letter is made to look like an object that starts with the sound that letter represents (eg cat represents the /c/ sound). A simple story linked to the object teaches the children how to form that letter (eg to form the letter ‘c’ they stroke the cat from head to tail).
Examples of these mnemonics can be found at Lesley Clarke's website and the link is at the bottom of this page.
For all the reception graphemes which contain more than one letter and the first set of new graphemes in Y1, the 2/3 single letter images are combined with a story which links them and provides the sound the grapheme represents.
How will my child learn to read the tricky words?
A tricky word is presented to the children initially with the tricky grapheme(s) in a different colour. The children still sound the word out, but have to remember the grapheme(s) in a different colour do not make their usual sound.
How will my child learn to spell the tricky words?
The programme provides a memory aid (called a mnemonic) to help the children spell each tricky word. This includes the word they are learning to spell. The mnemonics may be a song or a catchy sentence or something visual.
How will my child learn to choose the correct grapheme for a sound when they are writing words?
The children learn which grapheme is the ‘best bet’ when representing each sound at the beginning/middle or end of a word and this information is recorded on ‘best bet train cards’ displayed on the classroom wall. Children are encouraged to use the ‘best bet’ rules to select the most likely grapheme and check to see if it looks right. Spellings will be phonetically plausible at this stage (not 100% accurate). Children will continue to practise using the ‘best bets’ when spelling words in Y2 and into KS2.
When will my child start to read books with words?
As soon as your child is able to do both these things:
- Recognise the sounds represented by some of the single letters of the alphabet.
- Hear 3 sounds and put them together to make a word (eg hearing c-a-t and putting the 3 sounds together to make ‘cat’).
Until they are ready to read 'books with words', your child will be reading textless books. These still develop their comprehension skills, as well as their ability to tell a story in their own words - both of which are important.
Which books will my child be reading?
Children will be reading a variety of good quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts matched closely to their progression through the phonics programme. Your child will have been taught all the graphemes and tricky words in the texts they are reading
Further information, including how you can support your children with Phonics and Early Reading at home can be found at https://www.lesleyclarkesyntheticphonics.co.uk/index.php/parents/366-information-for-parents-carers-of-children-in-schools-using-lesley-clarke-s-letters-and-sounds-programme
Phonics Training for Parents
Each year the school will run training sessions for parents to support their children with phonics at home. For 2022/23 these dates took place on:
This year, we are lucky enough that these sessions were led directly by Lesley Clarke herself!
Thursday 17th Nov 7.30 – 8.30pm – reading (for children still learning Phase 2-5 phonics)
Thursday 24th Nov 7.30 – 8.30pm – reading (for children beyond Phase 5 phonics)
Please contact the school office if you are interested in booking a place at these or future possible sessions.
These online sessions will give you the chance to participate in lots of practical and enjoyable activities you can do with your child throughout their time in Reception and/or Key Stage One. Participants will also receive a useful pack detailing the activities to increase their effectiveness at home.
Parent feedback for these sessions:
'Very useful session, particularly how to teach the variations in sounds'
'The handouts help as it makes this all so visual'
'Great interactive session that will make this more fun for my child at home'
'This really helps me to understand some of the words and sounds my daughter comes home saying!'
In-School Reading Support
We are committed to providing the best quality support for your children's reading in school and therefore, Buckingham Park welcome parent volunteers at times throughout the year to support reading in school. If you are interested in this, please register your intention at the link below:
Register your interest
Parents/volunteers will not conduct any reading support unless they have completed some phonics training before hand, with Mrs Whytewood, our Deputy Headteacher, who is also a Specialist Leader of Education for Early Years and Phonics. Parents who register interest in these sessions are accepting that training will need to be provided for this role.
Useful Documents
| Phonics and Early Reading Policy 2022/23 |
Useful Videos
Articulation of Phonemes
A simple video which shows the pronunciation for each of the phonemes (sounds) in the English language. These 'pure' sounds help the children to blend and segment - to read and write. Further information on articulation and enunciation can be found at https://www.lesleyclarkesyntheticphonics.co.uk/index.php/parents/125-articulation-of-phonemes
A simple video which shows the pronunciation for each of the phonemes (sounds) in the English language. These 'pure' sounds help the children to blend and segment - to read and write. Further information on articulation and enunciation can be found at https://www.lesleyclarkesyntheticphonics.co.uk/index.php/parents/125-articulation-of-phonemes
Useful Links
These links below will help to support you and your child alongside our in school provision.
http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk
Oxford Owl is a free website built to support you with your child’s learning. You’ll find age-specific reading and maths tips and activities, eBooks, and lots of fun ideas to really bring your child’s learning to life. You will also find support and advice on a range of questions you may have – including helping your child with their phonics, motivating boys to read and ensuring your child is doing their best in maths.
www.bookstart.co.uk
This website provides information about the national Bookstart scheme and the Bookstart packs that your child will receive as a baby, a toddler and at age three to four. It also gives information about sharing books with your child. You can find out about Bookstart events in your area, which you can attend with your child.
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ParentsMenu.htm
Here you will find lots of information for parents about phonics including: what exactly phonics is, how it is taught in UK schools and suggestions for helping pre-schoolers prepare for learning phonics. You will also find lots of games and ideas to explore with children at home.
https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/services/libraries/books-and-reading/children
You're never too young to join the library. Every library has books, DVDs, CDs and much more for all ages. The library also runs events and activities for children throughout the year.
Oxford Owl is a free website built to support you with your child’s learning. You’ll find age-specific reading and maths tips and activities, eBooks, and lots of fun ideas to really bring your child’s learning to life. You will also find support and advice on a range of questions you may have – including helping your child with their phonics, motivating boys to read and ensuring your child is doing their best in maths.
www.bookstart.co.uk
This website provides information about the national Bookstart scheme and the Bookstart packs that your child will receive as a baby, a toddler and at age three to four. It also gives information about sharing books with your child. You can find out about Bookstart events in your area, which you can attend with your child.
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ParentsMenu.htm
Here you will find lots of information for parents about phonics including: what exactly phonics is, how it is taught in UK schools and suggestions for helping pre-schoolers prepare for learning phonics. You will also find lots of games and ideas to explore with children at home.
https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/services/libraries/books-and-reading/children
You're never too young to join the library. Every library has books, DVDs, CDs and much more for all ages. The library also runs events and activities for children throughout the year.
