Nursery - Firm Foundations in Phonics

In Nursery, pupils begin their phonics journey through Firm Foundations in Phonics 1. The focus at this stage is on developing strong listening and speaking skills and helping children to tune into the sounds around them.

Through playful, practical activities, songs, rhymes and games, children develop their awareness of:

• environmental and instrumental sounds
• body percussion and voice sounds
• rhythm and rhyme
• alliteration
• listening to and remembering sounds
• oral blending and segmenting

These important skills provide the foundations pupils need before they begin learning the written letters and sounds used for reading and writing. Pupils are encouraged to listen carefully, play with sounds and develop their vocabulary and spoken language throughout their Nursery experience.

Reception - The Basics 2 & 3

In Reception, pupils build on their Firm Foundations and begin The Basics 2 & 3. They are introduced systematically to the sounds of the English language and the letters or groups of letters that represent them.

Pupils learn to recognise, build, read and write words using their growing phonic knowledge. They develop their ability to hear sounds within words, blend sounds together for reading and segment words into sounds for spelling.

During The Basics 2 & 3, pupils progress from reading and writing simple words to using the 44 sounds of the English language. They also learn common tricky words and begin reading decodable books that allow them to practise and apply the phonics they have been taught.

By building these skills step by step, pupils develop the confidence and fluency needed for increasingly independent reading and writing.