General FAQs

• How does FPF fit wth Letters and Sounds ↓
• How does FPF fit with the Simple View of Reading ↓
• How do I know that FPF really works ↓
• How can I deliver FPF without an interactive whiteboard ↓
• How does FPF fit with other resources ↓

How does Fast Phonics First fit with Letters and Sounds?

Letters and Sounds advocates that children learn to read by progressing through six incremental phases, to secure 'high quality phonic work'. Fast Phonics First matches these phases exactly, so Unit 1 of Fast Phonics First matches the phonemes in Set 1 of the Phase 2 teaching in Letters and Sounds (s, a, t, p). Please see the Fast Phonics First structure chart to see how each Fast Phonics First Unit matches the Letters and Sounds progression.

 

The principles of Letters and Sounds (high quality phonic work) are:

• Grapheme-phoneme correspondences should be taught in a clearly defined, incremental sequence.
• Children should be taught to blend (synthesise) phonemes in the order in which they occur, all through the word to read it.
• Children should be taught to segment words into their constituent phonemes to spell.
• Children should be taught that blending and segmenting are reversible processes.
  

All these basic principles are at the core of Fast Phonics First which provides a systematic daily programme for teaching these skills.

 

How does Fast Phonics First align with the renewed Framework?

The renewed Framework has 12 core strands of learning, with Strand 5 providing the 'Word Recognition' teaching objectives and Strand 6 providing the 'Word Structure and Spelling' teaching objectives. Fast Phonics First covers all these teaching objectives for Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.

 

The renewed Framework also places much emphasis on 'high quality phonic work' and recommends that a synthetic phonic programme be used for discrete, daily phonic lessons (and recommends six phases of phonic progression for this systematic teaching). Fast Phonics First is aligned to every criteria for this high quality phonic work. See Fast Phonics First's self-assessment of this alignment here.

 

What age group is Fast Phonics First suitable for?

Fast Phonics First can be first used with children who have recently started school, as it assumes little or no knowledge of letter names and sounds, and results are optimal when started in the first term of school. Fast Phonics First can then be used with children in their 2^nd and 3^rd years of schools, for teaching the Key Stage 1 phonic skills. Fast Phonics First has also been used successfully by Support for Learning teachers with children who are underachieving.

 

How does Fast Phonics First fit with the Simple View of Reading?

The Simple View of Reading identifies two dimensions of reading – word recognition and language comprehension – and explains that in order to comprehend text, children must first learn to recognise the words on the page (i.e. decode those words). Fast Phonics First provides all the word recognition teaching required - first and fast – to enable children to progress from learning to read, to reading to learn. Throughout the Fast Phonics First 'language' lessons, children are encouraged to apply their developing word recognition skills to real reading contexts for language comprehension.

 

How do I know that Fast Phonics First really works?

The Fast Phonics First system of phonics teaching has been the subject of a 7-year research study in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. At the end of the programme the children were found to be significantly ahead of age-related expectations in the areas of reading, spelling and comprehension. These gains were maintained and even increased during the remainder of their primary school careers.

  

How can I deliver Fast Phonics First if I don't have an interactive whiteboard?

The CD includes all the resources (pictures, words, phonemes, etc) so that they can be printed out and used to deliver the lesson plans if you don't have an interactive whiteboard. You will also need a large magnetic board and magnetic letters.

 

How does Fast Phonics First fit in with other resources?

Fast Phonics First is part of Rigby Star Phonics. Also within Rigby Star Phonics are decodable readers which link in with the Units of Fast Phonics First. This enables children to apply their phonic skills with a fun, motivating reader after the whole-class teaching using the Fast Phonics First programme. In addition, the phonic skills acquired through the teaching with Fast Phonics First can be applied in Guided, Shared and Independent reading sessions, using the other resources in the Rigby Star family.

 

How do Star Phonics readers fit in with Letters and Sounds and Fast Phonics First?

The Star Phonics readers match the order of phoneme introduction in Letters and Sounds and Fast Phonics First. They can be used after each Phoneme Set has been taught to practise and consolidate those phonemes.