In Turtle Class we learn to read through phonics. Phonics is the connection between written letters (graphemes) and the sounds they make (phonemes). We teach phonics using a programme called Unlocking Letters and Sounds which was validated by the DfE in December 2021. We begin teaching phonics in the first few weeks of term 1 in Reception and children make rapid progress in their reading journey. Children begin to learn the mainsounds heard in the English Language and how they can be represented, as well as learning ‘Common Exception’ words for Phases 2, 3 and 4. They use these sounds to read and write simple words, captions and sentences. Children leave Reception being able to apply the phonemes taught within Phase 2, 3 and 4. On this page you will find videos and support sheets to support our teaching of phonics.
ULS Progression Document.pdfWe hope you find the following glossary helpful. Always feel free to come in and talk to us if you require any further support.
Phoneme - A phoneme is a unit of sound e.g. the word 'cat' contains three phonemes; c - a - t
Grapheme - A grapheme is a visual representation of a sound e.g. a letter or a group of letters. Some sounds are represented by a single letter whilst others are represented by more than one letter.
Digraph - A digraph is a sound that is represented by two letters e.g. the sound 'a' in 'rain' is represented by the digraph 'ai'.
Trigraph - A trigraph is a sound that is represented by three letters e.g. the sound 'i' in 'light' is represented by the trigraph 'igh'.
Blending - Blending is the skill of joining sounds together to read words. Children are taught to say the separate sounds in a word and to then blend them together to decode the word.
Segmenting - Segmenting is the opposite of blending. Children are taught to segment a word into its separate sounds in order to spell it.
Click here for the ULS Glossary.
Click here to download the ULS Progression Document.
Phonics Videos
Below are some videos to help with the pronounciation of the sounds that we teach. The video also shows the Unlocking Letters and Sounds Actions that go with each sound. Notice how the children don’t add an ‘uh’ sound at the end of each sound, e.g they say: ‘t’ not ‘tuh’ - we call this pure sounds.
Phonics Sounds Sheets
Click below to find practise sheets to support our phonics teaching.
Phase 2 Support Sheets.pdfPhase 3 Support Sheets.pdfPhase 5a Support Sheets.pdf