The school uses the 'Letters and Sounds' scheme for phonics as its primary teaching tool; additional phonics material, to support learning, is provided by the 'Jolly Phonics' Scheme.
Phonics Teaching and Learning at St Augustine's
The teaching of systematic phonics has been researched and tried in many different forms over the years. We, like many schools follow the 'Letters and Sounds' approach promoted by the Government's educational advisors a few years ago. We use the published LCP weekly planning tool by Nicola Byrne and have access to Phonics Play and Phonics Bug tools as well as many purchased and made table top resources.
To assist with the correct progression of learning all the sounds, there are 6 phases which all children work their way through from Nursery to Y2 with regular or daily sessions as a whole class or in groups. Recognising the sound by ear is as vital as reading the sound on paper, so that reading supports the development of spelling and vice versa.
It is vital that all parents and carers are familiar with the English letter sounds taught in school to support accurate reading practice at home.
Please watch and listen to the video for the correct articulation of the basic sounds (phonemes) Click the refresh button in your browser bar to repeat the video if necessary.
| Expected Coverage in Nursery to Y3 | |
| Phase 1 | Nursery |
| Phase 2 | Reception |
| Phase 3 | Reception |
| Phase 4 | Reception and Y1 |
| Phase 5 | Y1 and Y2 includes the first 100 High Frequency Key Words |
| Phase 6 | Y2 and Y3 |
Below are some photos of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage using their Phonics skills! You can find out lots more about Reception and Nursery on their Curriculum pages.
The Phonics Play website has lots of fantastic games suitable for children age 3 -7.
The Oxford Owl website also contains lots of useful information about Phonics.
In Nursery and Reception the children sing the Jolly Phonics songs to help them to learn the letter sounds. You can find lots of free resources on their website and you can find the songs on You Tube too!
Click on this link to discover more information about Phase 5 Phonics (Year 1).
Phonics Information Sheets for Parents to download
Year 1 Phonics: Phase 5
Y1 Phonics Screening Test
Click on a sample here
In the Summer Term of Y1, all schools are required to carry out a Phonics check where pupils are asked to sound out and read 40 words. The child's responses are carefully marked. Some words are real and some are made up words e.g. 'gloop'. Year 1 pupils are expected to be secure in all Phase 5 sounds.
Those pupils who do not score the required minimum mark are retested in the Summer of Year 2.
Year 2 Phonics
Children entering Y2 continue their programme of daily Phonics. All Phase 5 sounds are revisited and alternative sounds are taught to prepare the way for early spelling work covered in Phase 6 and in the New Curriculum 2014.
Regular reading fully supports the fast progression of Phonics