Phonics is a high priority throughout Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 and high quality, systematic phonics sessions are taught daily in Reception and Year 1 following the ‘Super Sonic Phonics Friends’ planning programme. Phonics sessions take place daily in Year 2 during the autumn term, this is then replaced by the teaching of the Year 2 spelling rules sessions which are also planned by the ‘Super Sonic Phonics Friends’ accredited programme. Extra support is provided to those children in Year 2 who did not reach the expected standard in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check and also to children who are working below the expected levels. Interventions for these children run regularly and follow the ‘Super Sonic Phonics Friends’ planning and intervention guidance. Children who did not meet the expected standard for the Phonics Screening Check by the end of year 2, receive extra support and intervention in Year 3 using the ‘Super Sonic Phonics Friends’ planning and intervention guidance.

In Nursery, phonics is taught daily in small groups lead by all members of the Teaching and Learning staff. Sessions follow the ‘Super Sonic Phonic Friends’ planning for the ‘Firm Foundations in Phonics 1’. These sessions offer children experiences, exposure and enjoyment of sound awareness to support children in securing a strong sound processing system. These skills are critical to the enjoyment and success in children’s later reading and writing skills.

In Reception, children are taught the 44 sounds of the English Language through daily phonics sessions. Following the sessions for ‘The Basics 2’ and ‘The Basics 3’, children will be taught to hear up to 3 sounds in words, recognise spellings and read and write simple CVC words with 44 spellings for sounds. Children will be taught the skills to read decodable texts which match with their secure phonics knowledge and make phonetically plausible attempts in their emerging stages of spelling in their writing journey. Children will also develop an understanding of the phase appropriate tricky words and develop skills and strategies to read and write them independently.

In Year 1, children continue to take part in daily phonics sessions. Children introduced to ‘The Basics 4’ where they will be able to hear more than 3 sounds in a word and use known spellings to read and write them. Children will learn how to hear adjacent consonants in words that and be taught to write words containing more than 3 sounds. Also, in Year 1, children will be introduced to ‘The Higher Levels of Phonics- Choose to Use Spellings’. In these phonics sessions, children will be taught that there are more than one spelling for a sound and will learn the spelling rules for up to 85 spellings for the 44 sounds of the English Language. This will ensure children have the phonetic knowledge to take part in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in the Summer Term. Children will continue to learn phase appropriate tricky words.

In the Autumn term in Year 2, children will continue to take place in daily phonics sessions. Children will be introduced to ‘The Higher Levels of Phonics- Switch it Spell Sounds’. In these phonics sessions, children will be taught the concept that there are more than one spelling for a sound that they can hear in a word and will learn choose to use spelling rules for up to 85 spellings for the 44 sounds of the English Language. Children will be taught that some spellings can make 2 different sounds in words and will learn switch it spell rules to support reading and writing them correctly. Children in year 2 will continue to learn to read and write phase appropriate tricky words.

Teachers across Foundation and Key Stage 1 regularly assess the pupils knowledge using phonic book assessments, phonics tracker and the Word Reading and Writing Early Learning Goal (in EYFS). These regular assessments inform planning and allow teachers to identify any gaps for learning. Children who identified at danger of falling behind are provided with interventions which follow the ‘Super Sonic Phonic Friends’ programme.