We Are Taking Our First Steps In Writing!

In Reception, the children are beginning their exciting journey into writing, using their growing phonic knowledge to build confidence with words, captions, and sentences. At this stage, the children start to apply the sounds they’ve learned to write independently, whilst also learning to recognise tricky words that don’t follow regular phonetic patterns.

Reception children are introduced to phonics through systematic teaching of sounds (phonemes) and the letters (graphemes) that represent them. Using their knowledge of Phases 2 and 3 phonics, children begin to:

Segment and Blend: Break down simple words into sounds (segmenting) and blend them back together to write words like cat, dog, sun, and hat.
Use Digraphs and Trigraphs: As they move into Phase 3, children start to recognise and write more complex sounds, like ch, sh, th, ai, and igh. For example, they might write ship, chin, or light.
As the children become more confident with individual words, they begin to write short captions and sentences. This is where they learn to:
Combine Words: Using familiar words to create captions like ‘a red car’ or ‘the big dog’.
Sentence Structure: Begin sentences with a capital letter and end with a full stop. They also start to use finger spaces between words to make their writing clearer.
Extend Ideas: Move from simple sentences like ‘The cat sat.’ to more descriptive ones such as ‘The big cat sat on the mat.’
While phonics is a great tool for writing, some words—known as tricky words—don’t follow regular sound patterns and need to be learned by sight. These are introduced in Phases 2 and 3:
Phase 2 Tricky Words: the, to, I, no, go, into
Phase 3 Tricky Words: he, she, we, me, be, was, my, you, they, her, all, are
Children practice spotting and using these words in their writing. For example:
‘The dog is big.’ (‘the’ is a tricky word from Phase 2)
‘She is in the sun.’ (‘she’ is a tricky word from Phase 3)

It’s important to remember that learning to write is a process, and every child progresses at their own pace. Celebrate their efforts, encourage creativity, and most importantly, make writing fun!

By building on their phonic knowledge and learning tricky words, children in Reception develop the foundation they need to become confident, independent writers. We’re excited to see the wonderful stories, captions, and sentences they create as they continue this journey!

Thank you.

Team Reception.