The Communication Club

Phonics aka Sound Patterns

Build Reading Confidence Through Sound Learning

Phonics is the way we teach children to read and write by helping them understand how sounds link to letters. English is made up of lots of different sound patterns—not just individual letters, but groups of letters that work together in different ways. As children learn to read, they begin to recognise these patterns, such as short and long vowel sounds, letter combinations like blends and digraphs, and more complex patterns like diphthongs and r-controlled vowels. Understanding these building blocks helps children decode (read) words and encode (spell) them with increasing confidence and accuracy.

What are they?
Two or more consonants next to each other where each sound is still heard.Examples:

bl → black
st → stop
gr → green
mp → jump

Rules / Patterns:

You can hear each sound (e.g. /s/ + /t/ in stop)
Can appear at the beginning or end of words
No letters are “merged”—they stay separate

What are they?
Short vowels are the most common vowel sounds. They are quick, “short” sounds and don’t say the vowel’s name.Examples:

a → cat, hat, bag
e → bed, pen, red
i → sit, pin, lip
o → hot, dog, log
u → cup, sun, mug

Rules / Patterns:

Usually appear in CVC words (consonant–vowel–consonant)
Often the default vowel sound in early reading
If there’s only one vowel in a short word, it’s usually short

What are they?
Long vowels say the name of the letter.Examples:

a → rain
e → tree
i → light
o → boat
u → blue

Rules / Patterns:

Magic e (split digraph): cap → cape
Vowel teams: ai, ee, oa
Often appear in open syllables (e.g. go, he)

What are they?
Two letters that make one sound.Examples:

sh → ship
ch → chip
th → thin / this
ck → duck
ng → ring

Rules / Patterns:

The letters work together as one unit
You can’t hear each letter separately
Some digraphs have more than one sound (e.g. th)

What are they?
Three letters that work together to make one sound.Examples:

igh → light, night
ear → hear, dear
air → fair, hair
ure → pure, sure

Rules / Patterns:

The three letters represent one sound together
You can’t hear each letter separately
Often appear in longer or more complex words
Common in later phonics learning stages

What are they?
Three letters that work together to make one sound.Examples:

igh → light, night
ear → hear, dear
air → fair, hair
ure → pure, sure

Rules / Patterns:

The three letters represent one sound together
You can’t hear each letter separately
Often appear in longer or more complex words
Common in later phonics learning stages

What are they?
A gliding vowel sound—your mouth moves while saying it.Examples:

- - - - oi / oy → coin, toy
        ou / ow → cloud, cow

Rules / Patterns:

The sound changes as you say it
Often spelled in two different ways (e.g. oi/oy)
Position can matter (oy often at the end of words)

What are they?
A vowel followed by r, where the r changes the sound.Examples:

ar → car, star
er → her, fern
ir → bird, girl
or → fork, short
ur → turn, burn

Rules / Patterns:

The vowel doesn’t make its usual sound
Often called “bossy r”
er, ir, ur often sound very similar

What is it?
A weak, unstressed vowel sound that sounds like “uh”. It can be made by any vowel.Examples:

a → about, sofa
e → taken
i → pencil
o → lemon
u → supply

Rules / Patterns:

Appears in unstressed syllables (the part of the word we don’t emphasise)
Doesn’t sound like a clear short or long vowel
Very common in spoken English
Can make spelling tricky because the sound is not obvious

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