English // Area
Phonics & Word Reading
Age coverage
Ages 4 to 10
Starts at age 4 // 8 topics
Starting at age 4
- Understanding print
Demonstrate understanding that print carries meaning, follows left-to-right top-to-bottom directionality, and is organised page by page in books
Ages 4 to 6Concept - Knowing all letters
Recognise and name all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet; name the letters in order and use letter names to distinguish between alternative…
Ages 4 to 6Method - Single Letter Sounds
Know the primary sound for each consonant and the short and long sounds for the five major vowels; respond speedily to single-letter graphemes
Ages 4 to 6Method - Onsets & Rimes
Blend and segment onsets and rimes in single-syllable words; isolate and pronounce individual phonemes (initial, medial, final) in CVC words; add or substitute…
Ages 4 to 7Method - Rhyming words
Recognise and produce rhyming words; join in with predictable phrases and rhymes in stories and poems; learn to appreciate and recite poems by heart
Ages 4 to 6Method - Blending Sounds to Read Words
Apply phonic knowledge to blend sounds in unfamiliar words containing taught grapheme-phoneme correspondences; respond speedily to graphemes for all 40+…
Ages 4 to 7Method - Vowel Digraphs
Read and spell words containing common vowel digraphs (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, oe, oo, oi, oy) including where a digraph can represent more than one sound
Ages 4 to 7Method - Consonant Digraphs
Read and spell words containing consonant digraphs and less common consonant spellings (ch, sh, th, ck, tch, ng, ph, wh, k for /k/)
Ages 4 to 7Method
Starts at age 5 // 10 topics
Starting at age 5
Your child is building the foundation for reading — learning how letters and sounds work together, recognizing common words by sight, and developing the skills to sound out new words independently.
- Syllables
Count, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words; divide written words into syllables as an aid to reading and spelling
Ages 5 to 6Method - Reading High-Frequency Words by Sight
Read common high-frequency and exception words automatically by sight, including words with irregular spelling patterns
Ages 5 to 8Method - Reading fluently
Read aloud books matched to phonic ability accurately and with growing fluency; reread familiar texts to build confidence, speed, and expression
Ages 5 to 7Method - Reading Contractions
Read and understand contractions with apostrophes, knowing the apostrophe represents omitted letters
Ages 5 to 6Method - Compound Words
Recognise and spell compound words by identifying the two component words that combine to form a single word
Ages 5 to 8Concept - Reading Inflectional Endings
Read words containing taught GPCs with common inflectional endings (-s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er, -est) and the prefix un-; read multi-syllable words with taught…
Ages 5 to 7Method - Trigraphs
Read and spell words containing trigraphs — three-letter graphemes representing a single sound (igh, air, ear, are)
Ages 5 to 6Method - Diphthongs and complex vowels
Read and spell words containing diphthongs and complex vowel patterns (ow, ou, ew, ue, ie, aw, au) and words ending in -y as a vowel sound
Ages 5 to 6Method - Split Digraphs and Magic E
Read and spell words containing split digraphs (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e) where a final 'e' makes the preceding vowel long
Ages 5 to 7Method - R-Controlled Vowel Sounds
Read and spell words containing r-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir, ur, or, ore) and vowel-r patterns where 'r' modifies the vowel sound
Ages 5 to 6Method
Starts at age 6 // 3 topics
Starting at age 6
Your child is learning to read more complex words by recognizing different letter patterns for the same sounds and breaking longer words into syllables, while also developing fluency and expression when reading aloud.
- Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds
Recognise alternative grapheme-phoneme correspondences for known phonemes (e.g., /dʒ/ as ge/dge/g, /s/ as c, /n/ as kn/gn, /r/ as wr, /ʒ/ as s), reading words…
Ages 6 to 8Method - Reading with Expression and Accuracy
Read aloud with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression (prosody), re-reading familiar texts to build fluency and confidence, and using context to…
Ages 6 to 10Method - Syllables (age 6+)
Decode words of two or more syllables by breaking them into syllable chunks, applying knowledge that every syllable must contain a vowel sound, and blending the…
Ages 6 to 9Method
Starts at age 7 // 2 topics
Starting at age 7
Your child is learning to read more complex words by understanding how prefixes, suffixes, and root words work together, helping them tackle unfamiliar words with confidence.
- Decoding unfamiliar words
Read Y3-4 exception words with unusual spelling-sound correspondences, applying growing knowledge of morphology and etymology to decode unfamiliar exception…
Ages 7 to 9Method - Prefixes and suffixes
Read words containing common prefixes and suffixes from the Y3-4 programme, applying knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (morphology and etymology)…
Ages 7 to 9Method