Phonics and Handwriting Support

Hello Parents and Friends of Red Kite Special Academy!

Hopefully you are all coping at this unprecedented time and your families are all staying safe.  If you are visiting this section I am guessing that this is because you would like some guidance on the area of phonics and how you can use this to support your child in their journey to fluent reading and writing skills.  I am hoping that this will help you:

• Phonics involves the 26 letters of the alphabet
• There are 42 sounds to learn
• The government recommends that we use a structured, synthetic approach to phonics
• This means that children are taught the letters and sounds of our language and how to blend them into words
• The structure comes in because we try to teach them in a particular order until students KNOW each sound to mastery
• At Red Kite Special Academy we have subscribed to the Jolly Phonics system which enables the children to learn through multisensory techniques
• We also like to use online learning and games to help students
• The key is to make this fun and engaging and never spend too long in each session 10-20 minutes is recommended for younger children, but as you know your own child, gauge this carefully and try integrating this into your everyday reading activities and it will soon become natural and fluent
• I have begun to add activities to this area and will continue to update these in the coming days and weeks

Best Regards and wishes,

Lynsey - Literacy Lead Teacher