Phonics

• Isn’t able to fluently (accurately and quickly) recognise and/or recall the grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) they have been taught.
• Isn’t able to blend sounds together to make a word. For example, they can’t blend c – a – t together to make ‘cat’, or h – igh together to make ‘high’.
• Can’t segment spoken words into phonemes. For example, they cannot segment ‘sit’ into s – i – t.
• Spelling is not phonetically plausible – they may miss out sounds in words. For example, they might write ‘spent’ as ‘spet.’

Based on need, some of this provision will be effective.

• Initial support should be based on the school’s systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) scheme. The reading framework states that this support should:
  • provide multiple opportunities for overlearning (recall, retrieval, practice and application at the level of the alphabetic code, word, sentence and text)
  • progress systematically in small, cumulative steps
  • be at a suitable pace for the child or young person (progression may be much slower than for their typically developing peers)
  • be engaging and motivating, using resources that are age neutral or age appropriate.
  • be daily, if possible
• Provide opportunities to promote fluency of recognition of GPCs. For example, play Trugs 0 in a pair or small group or use Speed Sound sheets.
• Provide 1:1 precision teaching (of recognition and recall of GPCs).
• Trial methods for teaching and practising blending that reduce the load on the child or young person’s working memory.
• Provide opportunities to manipulate the sounds in words, ideally alongside print (for example with letter tiles), as activities that target phonemic awareness are likely to be most effective when they involve print. For example, play the phoneme frame game or word chains.
• Provide additional support for children and young people to develop their phonological awareness. In EY and KS1, use the assessments and resources in ‘Letters and Sounds’ Phase 1‘ to plan provision to develop phonological awareness. In KS2 and above, use the assessments and resources in the Hertfordshire Phonological Awareness pack to plan intervention, if the school’s SSP doesn’t provide similar resources.
• Draw attention to the sounds of words (for example texts with rhyme, alliteration or a strong rhythm) by playing games, singing songs and reading poems and stories.
• Continue to focus on developing vocabulary knowledge and language skills (research indicates that language skills impact on decoding, as well as on comprehension).

Support services

• The Devon English Team
• Devon’s Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Team
• Devon’s Educational Psychology Service

Further reading and information

• Devon’s guidance on understanding children and young people with literacy difficulties
• Speed Sounds:
  • Instructions for using Speed Sound sheets
  • Speed Sounds sheet example
  • Speed Sounds record sheets (primary)
• Phoneme Frame Games
  • Words to use with the Phoneme Frame Game
  • Phoneme frames – step-by-step guide
• What Works for Literacy Difficulties? – a database of interventions
• Blending and segmenting – Reading Rockets
• ‘Letters and Sounds’ Phase 1
• Apps to support children and young people with literacy difficulties

Ideas and resources to share with parents

• Talk to your child or young person’s teacher about how you can support and consolidate their learning in school at home, in a fun and manageable way.
• Share books with your child or young person every day. Read to them following the text with your finger as you do. Tips for reading with your child | BookTrust
• What is phonological awareness? Tips to help kids learn to read | BBC
• Read stories and poems that rhyme.
• Listen to and sing nursery rhymes.
• Play ‘I spy’