What is phonics?
Phonics is a method of teaching children to read and write. Through a synthetic phonics programme, children learn that all words can be broken down into phonemes (units of sounds), which are represented in writing by graphemes (groups of letters). Through being taught these GPCs (grapheme-phoneme correspondences) children will be able to read more fluently and spell more accurately.
Scheme used at Garland
Some children when they come to us in Year 3 have not passed their phonics screening test. These children are taught phonics (specific to their gaps) in small intervention groups during whole class spelling time. All members of staff delivering the phonics programme have had training in how to deliver phonics correctly. At Garland we follow the Oxford University Press scheme ELS ‘Essential Letters and Sounds’. ELS is a DfE approved systematic synthetic phonics programme, this means that sounds are taught and revisited in a specific order. A link to Oxford University Press parents page, can be found by clicking here.
Why is phonics important?
At Garland we believe a love of reading is important for all children. If children are struggling to decode words then their enjoyment of reading is hindered. We have therefore put in a systematic synthetic programme to help our struggling readers to decode words with ease. Once children can decode fluently then can then fully-comprehend books and stories and a love of reading can thrive. In the first term after introducing phonics, we saw an accelerated rate of progress in the children’s reading and writing.
Please see the ELS handbook below: