Ynysowen Community Primary School use a phonics and reading programme called Read, Write, Inc.

How will my child be taught to read?

We start by teaching phonics to the children in the Nursery class. This means that they learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters.

What can I do to help? Is there anything that I shouldn't do?

Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘push’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. 

Your child will learn letter sounds in a certain order which are set out below.

Speed Sounds Set 1

To begin with we learn pure sounds so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily.

Letter-sound pictures are used to help your child learn these sounds quickly.

e.g. mmaisie mmmountain is morphed into m, t-t-t-tower is morphed into t

Set 1 sounds are taught in the following order:

m a s d t, i n p g o, c k u b, f e l h sh, r j v y w, th z ch qu x ng nk

Speed Sounds Sets 2 and 3: The long vowels

Once your child knows all Set 1 sounds by sight and sound and uses them to blend to read words, we start teaching Set 2 initially and then Set 3 long vowel sounds. Your child will need to learn that most vowel sounds have more than one spelling.

There are 12 Set 2 ‘speed sounds’ that are made up of two or three letters which represent just one sound, e.g. ay as in play, ee as in tree and igh as in high. It is important that your child does not pronounce these as 2 or 3 separate sounds. When your child sees the ‘speed sound’ letters together in a word, they must say just one sound for these letters.

When your child learns their Set 2 sounds in school they will learn:

* the letters that represent a speed sound e.g. ay

* a simple picture prompt linked to the ‘speed sound’ and a short phrase to say e.g. may I play

Every speed sound has a list of green words linked to it, so your child can ‘sound out’ and ‘sound blend’ words containing the new speed sound they have just learnt, for example s-p-r-ay * spray.

　Set 2 and 3 sounds are taught in the following order:

Set 2　

ay: may I play

ee: what can you see

igh: fly high

ow: blow the snow

oo: poo at the zoo

oo: look at a book

ar: start the car

or: shut the door

air: that’s not fair

ir: whirl and twirl

ou: shout it out

oy: toy for a boy

Set 3

ea: cup of tea

oi: spoil the boy

a-e: make a cake

i-e: nice smile

o-e: phone home

u-e: huge brute

aw: yawn at dawn

are: share and care

ur: purse for a nurse

er: a better letter

ow: brown cow

ai: snail in the rain

oa: goat in a boat

ew: chew the stew

ire: fire fire!

ear: hear with your ear

ure: sure it’s pure?

tion: (celebration)

tious / cious: (scrumptious/delicious)

e: he me we she be