Phonics at St. Mark’s
At St. Mark’s, we are committed to providing a strong foundation in early reading through the Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) approach. We use the FFT Success for All Phonics scheme, a structured programme designed to teach phonics in a clear, consistent, and engaging manner, ensuring all children make progress at their own pace.
How the FFT Success for All Phonics Scheme Works:
The FFT Success for All Phonics scheme is designed to build children’s reading skills systematically and incrementally. Starting in Reception, the programme introduces children to phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters and groups of letters that represent sounds) in a carefully sequenced order. The scheme progresses through Reception and into Year 1, ensuring that children gain the skills needed to decode words confidently and fluently.
Key Features of Our Phonics Approach:
Daily Phonics Sessions: Children receive a dedicated phonics session every day, where new sounds are introduced, practised, and consolidated. Each session follows a clear structure, allowing children to revisit previous learning, engage with new material, and practise their blending and segmenting skills.
Progressive Learning: The programme begins with simple sounds in Reception, such as single-letter phonemes (e.g., ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’), before moving on to more complex sounds, such as digraphs (e.g., ‘sh’, ‘ch’) and trigraphs (e.g., ‘igh’). As children move into Year 1, they continue building on this knowledge, learning alternative spellings of sounds, and tackling more challenging words and reading materials.
Blending and Segmenting: Children are explicitly taught how to blend sounds together to read words and how to segment words to spell them. This active process is practised daily and is crucial for developing reading fluency and comprehension. –
Reading Aligned Texts: The phonics scheme is supported by decodable books that align with the phonics phase children are working on. These texts are specifically designed to include only the sounds the children have already learned, giving them a sense of achievement and confidence as they practise reading.
Planning and Implementation:
Our phonics lessons are meticulously planned to ensure consistency and progression. Teachers use the FFT Success for All Phonics lesson plans, which include structured activities such as: –
Sound introduction and practice: Introducing new phonemes or revising previously taught sounds.
Blending and segmenting games: Fun, interactive activities where children put their skills into practice.
Reading and writing practice: Encouraging children to read words and simple sentences, as well as spelling using their phonics knowledge.
Assessment and intervention: Regular assessment is built into the scheme to identify children who need extra support. Targeted intervention sessions are provided to ensure all children keep up with the pace of learning. This structured, daily approach ensures that the teaching flows smoothly, building children’s knowledge step by step. Each lesson builds on previous learning, creating a cumulative effect that promotes mastery of reading and writing skills.
Progression from Reception to Year 1:
In Reception, children start by learning the 44 phonemes in English and the corresponding graphemes, focusing on blending sounds to read words and segmenting them to write. By the end of Reception, most children will be confident in reading simple sentences and decoding short books. As they transition into Year 1, children continue to deepen their understanding by learning alternative spellings for sounds and practising reading longer, more complex words. The focus shifts toward developing fluency and accuracy, ensuring they are prepared for the national Phonics Screening Check at the end of Year 1. Children who require additional support are given personalised interventions to ensure they keep up with their peers and develop the skills needed for independent reading.
How Parents Can Support Phonics:
Learning Parents play a vital role in supporting their child’s phonics progress. At St. Mark’s, we encourage parents to:
Practise sounds at home: We provide resources and sound cards to help reinforce learning at home. Going over the sounds taught that week and practising blending words can make a big difference.
Read regularly with your child: Reading the decodable books sent home, which match your child’s phonics level, helps them practise their phonics skills in context. Encourage your child to sound out words they do not recognise and to read aloud regularly.
Engage with phonics games: Fun, phonics-based games can be an enjoyable way to reinforce learning at home. We recommend simple games that involve blending and segmenting words.
Attend phonics workshops: At St. Mark’s, we run phonics workshops for parents, offering guidance on how to support phonics learning at home and providing tips on practising sounds and reading strategies.
Ensuring Success For phonics to be truly successful, consistency is key. At St. Mark’s, we ensure that children have daily exposure to phonics, building on their knowledge sequentially, and providing plenty of opportunities for practice. Regular assessment, targeted support, and strong partnerships with parents are also critical to ensuring every child achieves success in phonics. By the end of the programme, children at St. Mark’s are well-equipped with the reading skills they need to access a wide range of texts, fostering a lifelong love of reading.