St Anne’s Primary

Phonics Sequence of Learning

We use a systematic approach to the teaching of synthetic phonics to enable children to develop secure reading and spelling skills.
It is proven that high quality phonics teaching is ‘the best route for children to become fluent and independent readers (through)
securing phonics as the prime approach to decoding unfamiliar words’ (L&S Notes of Guidance). A strong emphasis on high
quality teaching of phonics can substantially reduce the number of children at risk of falling below age-related expectations for
reading. Our phonics sequence follows the teaching progression of the publication of Letters and Sounds (2007). Teachers make
use of the Jolly Phonics resources to support the children’s learning of phonemes in Early Years. This sequence sets out clear
expectations of pupils’ progress in phonics term by term.

Whole class phonics teaching will follow the suggested four-part structure of Revisit and Review – Teach – Practise –Apply as
suggested from Letters and Sounds. Phonics interventions will follow the same structure and will be streamed, according to gaps in
skills and knowledge, throughout EYFS and KS1.

Reading: Children have opportunities to apply their phonic knowledge using phonetically decodable books from a variety of
phonics book schemes, matched to our progression. The sequence of reading books shows a cumulative progression in
phonics knowledge that closely matches the school’s phonics programme (Appendix 1). Once the children are secure with the new
content that has been taught, they are able to read the books from that set within the phase, to develop their fluency.

High Frequency words: Our school’s agreed approach to the teaching of common exception words is that children are encouraged
to use their knowledge of synthetic phonics as much as possible to work out how to read unknown words aloud. The bits of a word
that are 'tricky' and do not directly correspond to known grapheme- phoneme correspondence are identified and discussed as a
teaching point. We call these ‘tricky words’. Within this sequence, we have identified where we expect tricky words and decodable
high frequency words to be taught. (See Appendix 2)

Timescale Teaching Content Skills and strategies Words to Tricky Outcome and assessment
read words expectation
to
spell
Phase 1 continuous provision through Phase 2 – 6
Phase One builds the foundations for children’s speaking and listening skills and all aspects need to be
covered throughout all phases. In particular, activities are included to develop rhythm and rhyme (aspect 4) and oral blending
and segmenting of the sounds of spoken words (aspect 7).

Reception

Reception Phase 2 Correct articulation the Working within Phase 2

Autumn 1 Pupils will learn single of individual to
Phase 2 graphemes phonemes. no Correct articulation of
Set 1; s, a, t, p, go phonemes when shown
Set 2; i, n, m, d Oral blending/ I individual graphemes
Set 3; g, o, c, k segmentation of VC into
Set 4; ck, e, u, r and CVC words To begin to blend separate
Set 5; h, b, f (ff), (ll), ss sounds together into whole
To use phonics and words for reading
identify the ‘tricky
bit’ in a word that is To begin to segment whole
not fully decodable words into separate sounds

Oral blending/
segmentation of CVC
words

Reception Pupils will continue to Phase 3: he I Give correct articulation of

Autumn 2 learn single graphemes she the Phase 2 phonemes and new
Phase 3 me to
 and be taught Blend and read CVC we no phase 3 taught content when
consonant digraphs words containing be go shown individual graphemes.
Phase 2 and 3 into
Set 6; j, v, w, x sounds See appendi Orally blend and segment for
x 3 for deco reading CVC words.
Set 7; y, z, zz, qu Segment and spell dable word
CVC words list To blend separate sounds
Set 8; ch, sh, th, ng containing Phase 2 together into whole words for
and 3 sounds reading
Set 9; ai, ee, igh, oa, oo
Write each letter To segment whole words into
correctly when separate sounds for spelling
Set 10; ar, or, ur, ow, oi,
following a model

Reception Phase 3 Differentiate was he Give correct articulation of all 26

Spring 1 Pupils will continue between letter my she phonemes
Phase 3 new to learn consonant names and letter they me
content + digraphs and some sounds you we Know all letter names
revision and long vowel phonemes her be
application Set 11; air, ure, ear, Able to read simple all Blend and segment sounds
er two syllable words represented by single letters
and captions. See appen
dix 3 for
decondabl
e word
liost
Reception Phase 4 Blend and read said was Give correct articulation of
Spring 2 CVCC/CCVC words so you phase 2 and 3 sounds when
No new grapheme have they shown individual graphemes
Phase 4 phoneme Segment and spell like all
correspondence taught CVCC/CCVC words some are Blend to read simple captions,
come my sentences and questions
CCVC were her
CVCC there Be able to write phonemic
CCVCC little approximations of any word
one they wish to write
do
when
out
what

Reception Children will be given Oral blending and Consolidate tricky Secure in phase 4
Summer 1 and opportunities to apply segmenting of CCVC, words for reading and
2 their phonetic CVCC and CCVCC spelling from phase 2- Orally blend and segment words
knowledge to read and words 4 with up to 5 sounds
Consolidation spell decodable words
and application and write in simple Blending and Be able to read phase 4 tricky
sentences segmenting of CCVC, words and spell phase 3 tricky
CVCC and CCVCC words
words
To apply phonetic knowledge to
read and spell decodable words
and write in simple sentences
 Year 1

Year 1 Chn will revise phase 3 Blend and read CVC Phase 2 tricky words: I, Give correct articulation of all 26
Autumn 1 graphemes to promote words containing no, go, to, the, into phase 2 and phase 3 phonemes
Phase 3 sticky learning and Phase 2 and 3
(revision) embed into long term sounds Phase 3 tricky words: Secure in phase 2 and 3
memory. he, she, we, me, be,
Segment and spell you, are, her, was, all, To orally blend and segment
CVC words they, my words with known graphemes
Set 6; j, v, w, x containing Phase 2 for reading
and 3 sounds Decodable word list
Set 7; y, z, zz, qu To apply phonetic knowledge to
Write each letter read and spell decodable words
correctly when and write in simple sentences
Set 8; ch, sh, th, ng
following a model
To be able to read and spell
Set 9; ai, ee, igh, oa, oo phase 2 and 3 tricky words

Set 10; ar, or, ur, ow, oi,

Set 11; air, ear, ure, er

Year 1 Chn will revise phase 4 Blend and read of Phase 4 tricky words: Give correct articulation of all 26
Autumn 2 consonant blends and CCVC, CVCC and said, have, like, so, do, phase 2 and phase 3 phonemes
Phase 4 skills to promote sticky CCVCC words some, come, little, one,
(revision) learning and embed into were, there, what, Secure in phase 2, 3 and 4
long term memory. Segment and spell of when, out
CCVC, CVCC and Orally blend and segment words
CCVC CCVCC words Decodable word list with up to 5 sounds
CVCC
CCVCC Be able to read phase 4 tricky
words and spell phase 2 and 3
Chn will focus on tricky words
practicing to read and
spell 2 syllable words To apply phonetic knowledge to
and words with adjacent read and spell decodable words
consonants. and write in simple sentences
including 2 syllable words and
Chn will continue to be words with adjacent consonants.
exposed to words
containing all 26 taught
graphemes from phase
2 and 3. No new
phoneme-grapheme
correspondence taught.

Year 1 Phase 5a - Chn will learn Understand that Phase 5 tricky words: Working within phase 5.
Spring 1 alternative graphemes there is more than oh, Mrs, people, their,
Phase 5a + 5b for sounds taught in one way to represent called, Mr, looked, Give correct pronunciation of
(new content) phase 3 different phonemes asked, could some phase 5 graphemes.

New graphemes: ay, ou, Understand that Decodable words list Give alternative pronunciations
ie, ea, oy, ir, ue, aw, wh, there is more than for some taught graphemes.
ph, ew, oe, au, ey, a_e, one way to
e_e, i_e, o_e, u_e pronounce different Be able to read some phase 5
graphemes tricky words and spell phase 2, 3
Phase 5b – Chn will learn and most phase 4 tricky words.
alternative
pronunciations for Begin to understand that there
known graphemes are more than one grapheme to
represent different phonemes
New pronunciations: i, o,
c, g, u, ow, ie, ea, er, a, y, Begin to understand that there
ch, ou is more than one way to
pronounce different graphemes
 (draw on knowledge from
‘moon’ and ‘book’ from phase 3

Year 1 Phase 5c- Chn will learn Blend and read 100 HFW: Secure in phase 5.
Spring 2 to recognise all words containing https://content.twinkl.c
Phase 5c phonetically plausible alternative o.uk/resource/4e/8f/t- Give correct pronunciation of
(new content + spellings for known graphemes l-4541--100-high- phase 5 graphemes.
revision) phonemes and revise all frequency-words-
taught GPCs. Segment and spell word-mat- Give alternative pronunciations
words containing _ver_8.pdf?__token__= for taught graphemes.
(ai) – ay, a_e, eigh, ey, ei alternative exp=1641331303~acl
(ee) – ea, e_e, ie, ey, y graphemes =%2Fresource%2F4e% Be able to read and spell phase
(igh) – ie, i_e, y, i 2F8f%2Ft-l-4541--100- 2, 3 and most phase 4 and 5
(oa) – ow, o_e, o, oe Use phonetic high-frequency- tricky words.
ew, ue, u_e, u knowledge, reading words-word-mat-
(or) – aw, au, al skills and _ver_8.pdf%2A~hmac= Be able to read and spell some
(er) – ir, ear understanding of the 1530be12fda43ffcd210 HFW.
(ow) – ou English language to a568a7917575403e54e
(oi) - oy decode and select 65b0450dfd78d876a1e Use alternative ways to
correct grapheme 371567 accurately represent and
representation pronounce taught GPCs.
(spelling) and correct
pronunciation Developing skills in spelling
(reading) longer words using phonetically
plausible attempts.

Year 1 Revision and Reading and spelling 100 HFW Able to fluently and confidently
Summer 1 consolidation of Phase 5 phonetically segment and blend decodable
Phase 5 alternative graphemes, decodable two and words in order to pass Phonics
(revision) pronunciations and three syllable words. screening check.
spellings.
Segment and blend Be able to read and spell phase
phonemes fluently 2-5 tricky words.
and confidently to
read words. Be able to read and spell most
HFW.

Able to accurately represent

phonemes using a taught
(phonetically plausible)
grapheme when spelling two
and three syllable words.

Use the alternative spellings and

representations fluently and
confidently to read and spell
phonetically decodable words.

Year 1 Application of Phase 5 Implement strategies Able to read and spell most
Summer 2 to accurately spell and to select correct HFW in independent writing.
Phase 5 read words. spelling (writing) or
(application) pronunciation To be able to read phonetically
(reading) of taught decodable books independently.
GPCs.
To be able to segment and spell
independently when writing
using phonetically plausible
attempts.
 Year 2

Year 2 Revision of all Phase 5 Implement strategies Able to read and spell most
Autumn 1 sounds to accurately to select correct HFW in independent writing.
read and spell spelling (writing) or
pronunciation To be able to read phonetically
Preparation for Phonics (reading) of taught decodable books independently.
Screening check GPCs.
To be able to segment and spell
independently when writing
using phonetically plausible
attempts.
Phase 5 provision to continue through Phase 6 to support children whose assessments indicate that
further consolidation of phonics teaching is required

Year 2 Phase 6 with NC links Recognise phonic irregularities

Autumn and be more secure with less
2/Spring 1 Morphology – common grapheme phoneme
Adding –es to nouns correspondences
and verbs ending in –y
Adding –ed, -ing, -er, Confidently applying phonic
and –est to a root word skills and knowledge to
ending in –y -e with a recognise and spell an
consonant before it + increasing number of complex
adding these suffixes to words.
words of one syllable
ending in a single
consonant after a single
vowel letter
The suffixes –ment, -
ness, -ful, -less, and –ly

Teaching National
Curriculum for spelling
and grammar content.

Appendix 1- Phonics Progression

Appendix 2- Teaching ‘tricky’ words for reading and spelling

When teaching ‘tricky’ words it is advisable to start from what is known and register the ‘tricky’ part in the word, using the phonics
first approach.

When reading a tricky word, encourage the child to identify graphemes and the sounds in the words, even the parts of the word
that are tricky. Sound talk the word, you can put sound buttons under each phoneme and blending them together to read the
word.

Discuss the tricky part of the word where the letters do not correspond to the sounds the child knows. E.g. he - /h/e/ the /e/ makes
an /ee/ sound that we know is normally a digraph such as /ee/, /ea/, /ey/ but it is the tricky part of this word as it is represented by
a single phoneme /e/. Encourage the child to say the letter names (graphemes) as well as the sounds (phonemes).

When spelling a tricky word, write the word to be learned for the child to see. Ensure the child can read the word before being
required to spell it. Say a sentence using the word. Sound talk the word using a finger for each phoneme. Ask the child to do the
same. Discuss the letters needed for each phoneme, using letter names. Highlight the tricky part of the word by drawing a circle
around the ‘tricky’ part of the word. If there are other words with the same spelling pattern, teach these alongside the initial word as
well.

Appendix 3- High Frequency Word Lists (Letters and Sounds)

Phase 2

Decodable words Tricky words

a had the
an back to
as and I
at get no
if big go
in him into
is his
it not
of got
off up
on mum
can but
dad put (north)

Phase 3

Decodable words Tricky words

will see you he
that for they she
this now all we
then down are me
them look my be
with too her was

Phase 4

Decodable words Tricky words

went said were
it’s have there
from like little
children so one
just do when
help some out
come what

Phase 5
Note that some of the words that were tricky in earlier phases become fully decodable in
Phase 5
 Decodable words Tricky Words
don’t day oh
old made their
I’m came people
by make Mr
time here Mrs
house saw looked
about very called
your put (south) asked
could