Sounds~Write Phonics Programme
At Cranborne CE First School and Nursery, we teach phonics using a linguistic phonics programme called Sounds~Write. Sounds~Write is a very highly structured, multi-sensory approach to teaching children to read and spell. Its structure and simplicity makes it a programme accessible to all learners and helps them to make excellent progress with their reading and spelling.

The four key concepts children are taught are:
1. Letters are symbols that represent sounds
2. Sounds can be spelled using 1, 2, 3 or 4 letters
3. The same sound can be spelled in different ways
4. The same spelling can represent different sounds

The three key skills children need to master are:
1. Blending
2. Segmenting
3. Phoneme manipulation

Key Concepts
Children in our Foundation Stage begin with the initial code where they practise all three key skills whilst learning the 1:1 sound-spelling correspondences and securing their understanding of key concept 1. This builds up confidence and phonic knowledge in a truly reversible system, enabling them to decode and encode a wide range of words and sentences. At first, children learn to read and write simple one syllable words with a CVC structure. Complexity of word structure systematically builds up so that children apply their code knowledge to monosyllabic words with up to six sounds.

Sounds~Write Across the School
Once the initial code has been mastered, children continue to practise all three key skills whilst learning the extended code which explores key concepts 2, 3 and 4. Learning of the extended code is a lifelong process – we all continue to develop our understanding of this code whenever we encounter new words. This is why Sounds~Write can be applied throughout KS2. Whilst learning the extended code, children read and write monosyllabic and polysyllabic words at an age-appropriate level. Children in Foundation Stage and KS1 engage in daily phonics lessons in addition to their reading and writing lessons. Children in KS2 will focus on polysyllabic words and etymology.