Stanbridge Primary

School

Parent/Carer Meeting

Phonics,

Handwriting

and

Assessment

in the Early

Years

Assessment in EYFS

Learning Journey

Diaries How do we record the children’s

learning at Stanbridge? • Observations of children’s independent play

• Photographs and your children’s work

• Literacy and numeracy work with an adult is

collected in an exercise book

Home Learning Diaries • Learn more about how to use

our new Home Learning Diaries

How can I help my

child to learn

at home?

‘There is a powerful association

between parental involvement

and student achievement and

attainment.’ Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT)

Review of Parental Involvement 2014

• Children need to bring them to school

and take them home every day.

• Please do not lose them – £4 each to

replace!

Top tips for home learning

• Keep it fun—build in rewards, games and activities.

• Find a quiet place to work together if the activity

requires it.

• Try and build in times tables/number practice and

phonics practice into everyday life (at the shops, in the

bath, in the car).

• Work in partnership with school—see your child’s class

teacher if you are proud of your child’s home learning

or if you have any concerns or questions.

Reading, Phonics and Key

Word Practice

• Encourage your child to read EVERY DAY. This makes a huge

difference to their learning and progress. Children need to learn

to read BEFORE they can read to learn. Reading underpins all

aspects of learning.

• Use the Home Learning Diary to record when your child has read

at home

• If you find a book is too easy or too difficult, see your child’s class

teacher.

• Children can earn rewards for 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 nights

reading! (See certificates at the back of the diary).

• Home Learning Phonics Books

• Key Words sheets are checked every other week and your child

will get the next sheet when they can confidently read the words

by sight.

Phonics, reading and

handwriting…

Your questions

answered!

Children need to learn to read

before they can read to learn.

If we do not teach children to

read, we deny them the ability

to learn.

2 aspects to reading…

Word recognition

and

Language comprehension

Once a child can work out the

words (decode) he/she can then

begin to sort out the message

(comprehend).

If he/she can’t decode the words,

he/she can’t begin to understand.

That’s where phonics comes

in…

• 26 letters, or ‘graphemes’ in

the English language

• 44 sounds, or ‘phonemes’

• Sometimes, 2 or 3

graphemes work together to

make a phoneme (e.g. ch, sh,

igh)

Some phonemes are ‘bouncy’ and some are

‘stretchy’ Bouncy sounds e.g. ‘a’ ‘d’ ‘h’ a-a-apple, d-d-dinosaur, h-h-horse Stretchy sounds e.g. mmmm, fffff, sssss (not ‘muh’ ‘fuh’ ‘suh’) mmmmonkey, ssssnake, ffffish

The order we teach phonemes

Single letter phonemes: m a s d t i n p g o c k u b f e l

h r j v w x y z

Digraphs and trigraphs (when 2 or 3 letters together

make one sound):

qu (queen) ay (say) ar (car)

sh (ship) ee (meet) or (fork)

ng (ring) igh (night) air (chair)

ch (church) ow (show) ir (girl)

th (that) oo (book) ou (shout)

th (thunder) oo (food) oy (boy)

nk (think)

Note: ‘oo’ has a short and long sound, depending on the word (book/food)

‘th’ can sound different, depending on the word (that/thunder)

Once the children securely recognise these

phonemes in words and can use them in their

writing, we teach alternative ways of spelling the

same phoneme:

• ‘ay’ ‘ai’ - make the same sound but are written in

both ways, depending on the word (.e.g say/rain)

• ‘oy’ ‘oi’ – (e.g. boy/coin)

Sometimes, phonemes use different letters:

• ‘ow’ can sound differently, depending on the

word (e.g. show/cow)

As children become more familiar with language

and reading, they learn to visually recognise these

differences.

Letters &

Sounds

44 sounds

How do we teach blending and segmenting in school? Phoneme Frames Sound Buttons Phoneme Fingers Your turn….

Phonic bad

habits!

Mmmmm not

muh!

Blending & Segmenting – Fred Fingers

• S-t-a-m-p

• F-l-y

• M-o-p

• C-l-a-m-p

• M-i-l-k

• R-a-ke

• R-ai-n

• B-ea-ch

Red Words

High frequency

irregular words

that must be

learnt by sight.

e.g:

- the

- go

- my

- he

Green Words

High frequency words

that use regular

sounding phonemes

and can be ‘decoded’,

e.g:

- at

- in

- had

- now

How to use phonics to

support spelling at home Play word building games…. •Magnetic letters on the fridge •Fish and spell games at bath time •Spelling in sand, shaving foam, paint etc. •Use websites like BBC •Forget what you have learnt – child becomes the teacher! •Puppets •Snap cards •Reading races •Use the sound actions

Handwriting at Stanbridge

•High expectations for learning and presentation •Children need to learn to recognise a range of printed and hand written scripts •Consistency across year groups •Starts from an early age •Differentiated to match learners needs

‘The school encourages joined handwriting, but teachers use their professional judgement when teaching and encouraging children to join their cursive letters. They will consider specific learning needs and adapt their teaching where necessary. ‘

Spelling & Handwriting Policy

‘Spelling and handwriting is taught, practised and valued throughout the school. We consider that being able to spell correctly and write legibly are essential life skills that society demands.’

Cursive script

•Learn to write letters in isolation •All letters start on the line •Lead in and exit lines •A flow to writing – aids spelling •Pencil grip – frog on a log

Any Questions?