Rocket Phonics

This Year at Foley Park Primary Academy we are introducing the Reading Planet Rocket Phonics programme. This is a DfE validated programme that supports the teaching of phonics in Reception and Year 1 to help children prepare for their phonics screening check.

Rocket Phonics offers the children a steady pace and progression when learning new sounds to keep them engaged and to make sure they continue to progress.

With Rocket Phonics, children are introduced to a new sound every two days with some common exception words (or tricky words) introduced at the end of the week on a Friday. They are given opportunities to focus on applying their knowledge of the sound over two days to ensure they are able to both blend and segment words that include the new sound.

Our favourite part of Rocket Phonics is the story-based approach we now use to introduce new sounds and language during our phonics lessons. Every lesson we use a 'Big Book' that tells part of a story and introduces our new sound. The pages we read have lots of words with our new sound and we decode these words together. It's a wonderful way to introduce children to new sounds while reminding them of the important link between phonics and reading.

Rocket Phonics also links directly with our school reading scheme, Rising Stars, allowing us to better tailor children's reading books to their phonic knowledge so they can practise more at home!