At South Wingfield Primary, we believe that strong phonics teaching is the foundation for confident reading and writing. Our school has developed its own phonics scheme, carefully structured to follow the Letters and Sounds progression while adding our own resources and strategies to make learning engaging and effective.

1. Daily Phonics Lessons

Children in Early Years and Key Stage 1 take part in a daily phonics session. These lessons are short, focused, and interactive, using songs, games, and practical activities to keep children motivated.

2. Systematic Progression

Our scheme follows the Letters and Sounds order of teaching:

• Phase 1: Listening skills, rhyme, rhythm, and oral blending.
• Phase 2–3: Learning single sounds and simple digraphs (e.g., sh, ch, th).
• Phase 4: Consolidating sounds and blending longer words.
• Phase 5: Learning alternative spellings and more complex sounds.
• Phase 6: Spelling rules and patterns.

3. Blending and Segmenting

• Blending: Children learn to combine sounds to read words (e.g., c-a-t → cat).
• Segmenting: They break words into sounds to spell them (e.g., dog → d-o-g).

4. Decodable Reading Books

We provide books that match the sounds children have learned, so they can practise reading with confidence.

5. Assessment and Support

Teachers regularly check progress and give extra support where needed, ensuring every child moves forward.

6. Partnership with Parents

We encourage parents to practise sounds and read with their child at home. We share resources and guidance to make this easy and enjoyable.