YEAR 1 AND 2

PHONICS GUIDANCE
FOR PARENTS
Set 2 and 3
Speed Sounds

The information in this booklet will explain the phonics teaching that
your son / daughter will receive daily at school during their time in
Years 1 and 2.
It also provides information on how you can help support your sons /
daughters phonics development at home.
If you need clarification or would like to know more about our
phonics teaching, please make an appointment to speak to your sons
/daughters class teacher.
Thank you for your continued support.

The information written in this pamphlet has been gathered from a

variety of sources, including:
www.oxfordowl.co.uk
www.oup.com/oxed/primary/rwi/forparents/
Read Write Inc. Phonics: Home More Phonics Flashcards

Before your son/ daughter can start to read, s/he needs to learn to:
say the sound that is represented by each letter or groups of letters
sound out the word, e.g. c-a-t, sh-o-p, s-t-r-ee-t
What are speed sounds?
In Read Write Inc phonics the individual sounds are called speed
sounds because we want your son/daughter to read them
effortlessly.
What are speed sounds Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3?
Set 1: In Reception your son/daughter learnt the sounds below by
sight. They also learnt how to blend them together to read words
e.g. c-a-t cat.
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
Set 2
(The long vowel sounds.) In Year 1 your son/daughter will progress to
learning their Set 2 sounds in the Autumn Term and Set 3 sounds
(reading only) in the Spring Term.
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 son/daughter does not
pronounce these as 2 or 3 separate sounds. When your son/daughter
sees the speed sound letters together in a word, s/he must say just
one sound for these letters.

When your son/daughter 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
son/daughter can sound out and sound blend words containing the
new speed sound they have just learnt, for example s-p-r-ay spray.
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: thats not fair
ir: whirl and twirl
ou: shout it out
oy: toy for a boy

Set 3
To date, your son/daughter will have learnt one way in which each
long vowel sound is written (Set 2 sounds). When learning their Set
3 speed sounds they will be taught that there are more ways in which
the same sounds are written, e.g. ee as in tree and ea as in tea.
Set 3 speed sounds reading will be taught for most of Year 1 and Set
3 speed sounds spelling during Year 2. It takes some time for this
information to be fully understood by your son/daughter.
There are 20 Set 3 speed sounds that are made up of two or three
letters which represent just one sound, e.g. ea as in tea, ow as in cow
and are as in care. As before, it is important that your son/daughter
does not pronounce these as 2 or 3 separate sounds. When your
son/daughter sees the speed sound letters together in a word, s/he
must say just one sound for these letters.
When your son/daughter learns their Set 3 sounds in school they will
learn:
the letters that represent a speed sounds e.g. ea
a simple picture prompt linked to the speed sound and a short
phrase to say e.g. cup of tea
Every speed sound has a list of green words linked to it, so your
son/daughter can sound out and sound blend words containing the
new speed sound they have just learnt, for example s-p-oil spoil.

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 its pure?
tion: (celebration)
tious / cious: (scrumptious / delicious
e: he me we she be
It is important that the speed sounds are practised in the correct
order. The table above shows you, at a glance, the order of the
sounds.

What are green words?

Green words are words which your son/daughter will be able to go
ahead and read as they are made up of the speed sounds that s/he
will have learnt.
RESOURCES FOR HOME USE
Read Write Inc. Phonics: Home More Phonics Flashcards
We do not normally recommend buying flashcards for home use.
However, we make an exception with these. They are great cards
linked to the phonics scheme we do in school. You could use them
with your son/daughter during their time in Year 1 and 2.
They retail at 6.99
However, you can order them from
Amazon with free postage for less
than 5.

www.oxfordowl.co.uk/
A great website that has lots of useful information on it to help you
with supporting your sons/daughters maths and reading
development.

ACTIVITIES TO DO AT HOME WITH YOUR CHILD

You will need a pack of Set 2 and 3 Speed Sound cards (see
resources for home).
Practise Set 2 speed sounds in the Autumn Term (Year 1) and start
practising Set 3, (Year 1) Spring Term onwards. (Please continue to
practise Set 2 sounds as well during the Spring and Summer Terms).
How to practise Set 2 speed sounds
When you practise your sons/daughters Set 2 speed sounds, you
either have to stretch or bounce it.
Example of how to practise the stretchy speed sound ay (as in play)
look at the picture side - stretch aaaaay
stretch the sound and say the phrase aaaay, may I play?
repeat the phrase ay, may I play?
look at the letter side - say ay
green words encourage your son/daughter to sound out and
sound blend the words containing the speed sound they have
just practised e.g. t-r-ay tray
Example of how to practise the bouncy speed sound oo (as in b-oo-k)
look at the picture side - bounce the sound and say oo-oo-oo
bounce the sound and say the phrase oo-oo-oo, Look at a book
repeat the phrase oo, Look at a book
look at the letter side - say oo
green words encourage your son/daughter to sound out and
sound blend words containing the speed sound they have just
practised

Using the green word lists

point to the sound as you sound out each word e.g. p-l-ay or bl-ow. Be sure you dont add an intrusive uh to the end of
consonant sounds. Say p not puh, s not suh etc
repeat, getting faster each time
in the end your son/daughter will be able to read them without
sounding or blending
GREEN WORDS TO PRACTISE AT HOME
Please do not practice all these words. Concentrate on one or two
sounds at a time and when they know them, move on.
12 words a night is ample. Encourage your son/daughter to highlight
them when they can read them without sounding.
Set 2 Sounds

day

must

may

way

vest

spray

see

stop

been

green

sleep

box

high

night

shop

fright

rock

might

snow

dress

slow

show

crisps

flow

too

jump

mood

fool

fish

spoon

took

top

book

shook

foot

sit

car

think

star

ship

start

sharp

sport

sort

thin

worn

black

horse

fair

stair

bath

air

chair

has

girl

bird

swing

whirl

chip

dirt

out

mouth

swim

dog

round

found

toy

boy

sad

this

enjoy

got

How to practise Set 3 speed sounds

Remember, only practise Set 3 speed sounds once your sons/
daughters knowledge of the Set 2 speed sounds is secure. Your
son/daughter should know all the Set 2 sounds and the letters that
represent them without having to rely on the picture prompt.
Example of how to practise Set 3 speed sounds
Review the similar sound from the Set 2 cards
e.g. show the ee, what can you see speed card
say ee sound
Hold up the letter side of the new speed sound
e.g. show the ea letter card
say ea
ask your son/daughter to repeat the sound ea
Hold up the picture side of the speed sound card
e.g. say the phrase ea, cup of tea. Repeat
Show your child both sides of the card
your son/daughter must say either ea or ea, cup of tea
depending on which side you show
Some cards have three different spellings e.g. ir in bird, ur in burn,
and er in fern. It is important you do not introduce all the sounds
together for the first time. For the ir speed sound, practise ir and ur
first and then practise er.
Practise the Set 3 speed sounds in these groups. Those in bold are
from Set 3, those not in bold, your son/daughter will have learnt in
Set 2.

oy and oi
ay and a-e (as in make)
igh and i-e (as in smile)
ow and o-e (as in home)
oo and u-e (as in huge)
or and aw
air and are
ir and ur
ay and a-e and ai
ow and o-e and oa
oo and u-e and ew
ire
ure
tion
cious/tious
Set 3 Sounds
Please do not practice all these words until your son/daughter knows
all their Set 2 sounds. Concentrate on one sound at a time and when
they know it, move on. 6 words a night is ample. Encourage your
child to highlight them when they can read them without sounding.

eat

tea

need

dream

seat

sleep

join

toy

voice

choice

noise

enjoy

make

shake

play

name

brave

tray

shine

white

light

smile

like

night

home

know

rose

spoke

stole

glow

rude

rude

mood

brute

moon excuse

saw

short

straw

dawn

horse

care

share

stair

flare

turn

slurp

third

over

turn

better weather

howl

shout

down brown crowd found

paid

snail

wake

drain

play

stain

toad

oak

home

cloak

toast

glow

new

knew

fool

tune

drew

grew

fire

hire

wire

ear

hear

dear

claw

square software

hurl

purse

whirl

bird

corner

bonfire inspire conspire

fear

near

year

sure

pure

cure picture creature adventure

tradition

congratulation

attention

conversation

celebration

exploration

precious

delicious

suspicious

scrumptious

ferocious

vicious

he

we

me

she

be

THE YEAR 1 PHONIC SCREENING CHECK

The phonics screening check will be taken individually by all children
in Year 1, in England, from June 2012. It is designed to give teachers
and parents, information on how your son/daughter is progressing in
phonics.
What is the phonic screening check?
There will be two sections in this 40-word check and it will assess
phonics skills and knowledge learnt through Reception and Year 1.
What will it check?
It will check that your son/daughter can:
Sound out and blend sounds in order to read simple words.
Read phonically decodable one-syllable and two-syllable words,
e.g. cat, sand, windmill.
Read a selection of nonsense words which are referred to as
pseudo words.
What are nonsense or pseudo words and why are they included?
These are words that are phonically decodable but are not actual
words with an associated meaning e.g. brip, snorb. Pseudo words are
included in the check specifically to assess whether your son/daughter
can decode a word using phonics skills and not their memory.
The pseudo words will be shown to your son/daughter with a picture
of a monster and they will be asked to tell their teacher what sort of
monster it is by reading the word. This not only makes the check a
bit more fun, but provides the children with a context for the
nonsense word which is independent from any existing vocabulary
they may have. Crucially, it does not provide any clues, so your
son/daughter just has to be able to decode it.

Is there a pass mark?

The check is not about passing or failing but checking appropriate
progress is being made. Children progress at different speeds so not
reaching the threshold score does not necessarily mean there is a
serious problem. Your son/daughter will re-sit the check the following
summer term.
What happens to the results?
The school will report your sons/daughters results to you by the end
of the summer term as well as to the local authority. If you have any
concerns, do talk to your teacher about this in a parents meeting or
after school.
More information can be found on www.oxfordowl.co.uk
Resource for home use
For those of you that have iPads and iPhones at home this is a great
APP for your child.
Check your Phonics APP by Pearson Education
Description: The Learn at Home Check your Phonics app is a fun way for children, aged
5-6, to practise their phonics, & get used to the format of the Year 1 phonics check.
This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad
Category: Education
Updated: 05 November 2012
Version: 1.2
Size: 28.5 MB
Developer: Pearson Education Limited
Pearson 2012
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch
(3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) & iPad.
Requires iOS 4.0 or later.