Curriculum

Understanding Phonics

Reading is a foundational life skill and a source of pleasure and wonder.  It is one of the most important skills children learn and the teaching of phonics  plays an important role in helping them become confident, fluent readers. This guide will help you understand what phonics is, why it is important in learning  to read, and how children can be supported at home to develop their awareness  of sounds, and of the relationships between sounds and letters. 

What is Phonics?

Phonics includes linking sounds (called ‘phonemes’) to their corresponding letters (called ‘graphemes’). Students read words by recognising the relationships between written symbols and their corresponding sounds. Phonics is one of 6 components that make  up a comprehensive reading program. The other components are:

• Oral Language
• Phonemic Awareness
• Vocabulary
• Fluency
• Comprehension

These are the foundational skills that have a reciprocal relationship and are all necessary to enable students to independently read and respond to increasingly complex fiction and non-fiction texts.

How can families support phonics learning at home?

Learning to read takes time, encouragement and support, and each young person progresses at their own pace. It’s important to celebrate small achievements in progress, and encourage children  to keep trying, even when it’s challenging for them.  When children enjoy learning, they are more likely  to stay motivated, which helps them develop a  strong foundation in reading.   Making phonics practice fun is key to keeping children engaged and motivated. Here are some suggested engaging activities to support phonics development.

Grade 6 City Excursion

We set off on our journey on a warm summer’s day prepared for a great adventure. The three places we would go to were the Treasury Building, Parliament and The Old Melbourne Gaol. We hopped onto the train at 9:00 am sharp, for what we didn’t know would be the time of our lives. Next stop, Treasury Building! 

At the historical Treasury Building, we delved into the mysteries of the Gold Rush back in the 1850s. This is where Margaret Gardener (our Governor) makes her big decisions with Jacinta Allan (our Premier) by her side. We found out that John James Clark at the age of 19 designed this grand building. The Old Treasury Building was built in 1858 to 1862. We also saw a very impressive replica of the Welcome Stranger gold nugget also known as the biggest golden nugget in the world weighing 47 kg. It was found in 1869; we really enjoyed this stop. 

After a quick break to eat we headed to the very special… PARLIAMENT HOUSE! We ate lunch right before we left parliament on the huge steps outside. They were so high up! There was a lot of security in parliament - it almost reminded us of an airport, putting your bags through the scanner and all that! ‘There is real gold in the walls’ this announcement put us all into a state of shocked silence. We all stared up at the walls. We found out the reason why the royal family aren’t allowed in the green room, but they are allowed in the red room! In the green room, we got to sit in seats where people actually debate! Each seat ise assigned to someone - similar to our own classrooms! We were surprised about how brutal the government was in the past! James Newbury did a presentation to us about how laws are made. He also told us that the carved lions on the roof are to show that whatever you are doing someone is watching!  We even did our own mini debate in the red room. Would you like to debate at the Parliament House? We did!

At the Old Melbourne Gaol we passed where the old laundry was, stepped up the creaky stairs and came to stand next to where the old famous bushranger - Ned Kelly - was hanged. His last words are rumoured to be “Such is Life” or “Ah, well, I supposed it has come to this” Which one do you think it is? We found out that one of the only flaws with Ned Kelly’s armour was that the arms and legs were not covered. In Ned Kelly’s last battle, he got shot in the arms many times! We were shocked to see how tiny the cells were and how hard the conditions would be to live in - it would be devastating. The person who was taking our Gaol tour told us a terrifyingly realistic ghost story that gave us all the shivers.  We saw terrifying death masks which horrified us - would you like to visit the gaol?

And then our journey came to an end. Exhausted but happy, we slumped onto the train and slowly walked back to Hampton Primary School. We loved the experience, and we hope we get to do more things similar to this. 

Published by: Daea Boulton, Sasha Cervantes Scally & Rose Fogarty in 6A