Phonics: Sounds Write
At the beginning of 2022, we invested in a new accredited phonics scheme called Sounds Write. This scheme was chosen because it will work for every child for reading and spelling from their first day in EYFS all the way to their last day with us in Year Six. It is a multisensory, highly structured program which enables consistency across our school. Find more about the program following this link, which also includes an introductory video About | Sounds Write Sounds Write - first rate phonics | An exciting, new approach to the teaching of reading, spelling and writing An exciting, new approach to the teaching of reading, spelling and writing (sounds-write.co.uk)
In January 2024, we led a parent workshop about Sounds Write phonics and how to help at home. Please see the presentation below:
The children will learn that letters are symbols for sounds. They will begin by learning to read and spell 2 and 3 letter words, before moving on to words with up to 6 letters. The children will then move onto the “extended code” which teaches children that sounds can be spelt in different ways, e.g ae in play, rain, steak, eight, fake and that one spelling can make different sounds such as ea in break and beak. As the children go up through the school they will use the skills taught in EYFS, Year One and Two to read and spell words with more than one syllable by looking at the meaning of each part of the word.
The children in EYFS, Year One and Year Two all started this new phonics scheme in January 2022. Years Three to Year Six will also use the skills to help with their reading and spelling and will begin to use more of the scheme as the year goes on.
Below you will find ideas to help at home, including a fantastic Udemy course for parents written by the author of Sounds Write. We would highly recommend this free course for all parents.
What can you do to help at home?
Reading is most important activity to do at home to support your child’s education. Reading for 10 minutes a day can have a huge impact on their full education. We want to support you with this, so you may find the links below helpful. Our Dandelion Reader books, which we currently use in EYFS, Year One and Year Two, are directly linked to the units from Sounds Write. This means your child will bring home a book that links to the sounds that have been taught recently within their phonics lessons and revise sounds taught previously. Reading a book several times will enable your child to gain confidence and build their fluency. If you want to look at other books for children to read at home which focus on the Sounds Write approach you can look at www.phonicbooks.co.uk which include books for our beginner readers up to Year Two, and some more complex books with decodable words for the children further up the school who may still struggle with their reading. Once children have reached Year Three, Barrington Stoke books are ideal to look at which will enable the children to still practise using their phonics to support their fluency in reading.
The link below is for a course written by the course director of Sounds Write – John Walker. It is a free course for parents and goes into more detail about reading at home and supporting your child with phonics learning. The video can be played on demand and is just over an hour long. John Walker | Sounds-Write literacy | Udemy John has also written a few books which you can buy on Amazon which has theory and practical activities to support your own learning. This course will give you an insight into phonics as a whole, as well as more information about Sounds Write and how to help with reading and spelling.
There is a Sounds Write app which the children can use at home. Please find more information via this link - App For iPad | Sounds Write Sounds Write - first rate phonics | An exciting, new approach to the teaching of reading, spelling and writing An exciting, new approach to the teaching of reading, spelling and writing (sounds-write.co.uk) Unfortunately, this is currently only available on Apple, but we will update you when it is available on Android.
A leaflet for parents of children in the younger years - Sounds~Write™ A guide for parents of children in reception (sounds-write.co.uk)
Your class teacher can give more information about the teaching of phonics, spelling and reading at Barley Hill Primary School. Alternatively, if you would like more information you can speak to Miss Fraser in Year Two.
