Phonics - No Nonsense Phonics Skills

The No Nonsense Phonics Skills programme provides a comprehensive step-by-step method for teaching reading, handwriting and spelling. Author Debbie Hepplewhite guides the teacher, and consequently the children, through a series of carefully designed phonics routines to master the complex English Alphabetic Code.

Each book is rich in content, providing phonics instruction and exercises with cumulative code, words and meaningful texts. The children will develop their language comprehension and build up their knowledge of new vocabulary and spelling word banks. High-frequency words, tricky words and additional letter/s-sound correspondences are all drip-fed into the teaching and learning sequence. Mini stories throughout the books bring all the different strands of the programme together.

No Nonsense Phonics Skills

• Provides systematic and rigorous phonics teaching and practice with a rich vocabulary
• Teaches handwriting linked to the English Alphabetic Code and the Alphabet
• Apples and extends phonics to reading and writing cumulative text, developing language comprehension and evoking imagination
• Involves and engages the learner fully and routinely in formative assessment

Below are the codes that children are taught and exposed to through the No Nonsense phonics scheme:

In Reception, children experience a daily phonics session five times a week as well as being immersed in phonics throughout other subjects. We teach two new phonemes (letter sounds) per week and have a focus on reading the sound and practising the grapheme (written letter). Alongside this, we incorporate high-frequency words (tricky words) in which we learn to read and recognise them.

Phonics mat 1 and 2 are the codes that we cover within Foundation Stage 2 (see attachment below)

In Key Stage One, the children have a taught daily phonics lesson five days a week. These sessions are whole class and follow the No Nonsense Phonics Skills program of learning. The No Nonsense Phonics Skills program provides daily progression and ensures children are able to build on prior learning each week. The children are introduced to a number of new graphemes alongside high frequency and common exception words (tricky words) that they are encouraged to both read and write in a variety of different ways.

Phonics mat 3 and 4 are codes that we cover in Year 1 (see attachment below)

Year 2 revisit all of these codes to ensure that they are fluent, able readers. 

Take a look at Mrs Matheson showing how to use the No-Nonsense phonics flashcards effectively: