Synthetic Phonics is a system designed to break down the English language into decodable letters and sounds. At St Veronica's we follow the Red Rose Letters and Sounds scheme published by Lancashire County Council. The letters and groups of letters are defined as phonemes when they are heard, and graphemes when they are written down.
Phase 1 is delivered in pre-school settings, and this teaches sound recognition rather than reading and writing skills.
In Reception, therefore, children begin on Phase 2 which teaches the following sounds:
Week 1: s, a, t, Week 2: p, i, n Week 3: m, d, g Week 4: Consolidate Week 5: o, c, k Week 6: ck, e, u Week 7: r, h, b Week 8: Consolidate Week 9: f, ff, l Week 10: ll, ss Week 11 & 12: Consolidate.
. This takes approximately 12 weeks and will be revisited until children are secure.
Phase 3, which is longer, covers the following sounds: Week 1: j, v, w Week 2: x, y, z, zz Week 3: qu, ch, sh Week 4: th, th, ng Week 5: Consolidate Week 6: ai, ee Week 7: igh, oa Week 8: oo, oo Week 9: ar, or Week 10: Consolidate Week 11: ur, ow Week 12: oi, ear Week 13: air, ure, er Week 14 & 15: Consolidate.
Phase 4 is a recap - revising these sounds and introducing compound (2 or more syllable) words. This is first taught in Reception and revisited at the start of Year 1.
Phase 5, which is taught throughout Year 1, covers the following sounds: Week 1: ay (day), ou (about), ie (tie), ea (eat) Week 2: oy (enjoy), ir (girl), ue (blue), ue /y(oo)/ (cue), aw (claw) Week 3: wh (which), ph (dolphin), ew (flew), ew /y(oo)/ (stew) Week 4: oe (toe), au (Paul), a-e (made), e-e (swede) Week 5: i-e (time), o-e (stone), u-e (flute), u- e /y(oo)/ (cube) Week 6: i (find) o (both) o (other) c (cell) g (ginger) Week 7: u (music) ow (snow) ie (chief) ea (bread) Week 8: er (fern) ch (school) ch (chef) a (want) a (acorn) Week 9: e (remind) y (try) y (baby) ou (group) ou (touch) Week 10 & 11: Consolidate