Phonics & Early Reading
At Peatmoor Primary School, we believe that strong phonics skills are essential for children to become confident readers and writers. In line with the National Curriculum, we teach children to apply their phonic knowledge and skills as the key way to decode and read words successfully.
Our phonics sessions are engaging, interactive, and designed to promote active learning through the use of interactive whiteboards, carpet sessions, worksheets, songs, games, and practical activities. Children are encouraged to develop confidence, fluency, and enjoyment in reading from the very beginning of their learning journey.
At Peatmoor Primary School, we use the Supersonic Phonic Friends programme. Children begin the scheme in Reception and continue through to the end of Year 1, following a carefully structured approach to phonics development. The programme is divided into five phases:
- Firm Foundations in Phonics 1 – Environmental sounds
- Basics 2 – Initial letter sounds (phonemes)
- Basics 3 – Initial letter sounds, digraphs, and trigraphs
- Basics 4 – Adjacent consonants and polysyllabic words
- Basics 5 – Split into the “Choose to Use” and “Switch It” phases
Although formal phonics teaching is usually completed by the end of Year 1, children continue to build on and apply their phonics knowledge throughout Year 2 and beyond. Phonics and spelling sessions in Year 2 help children develop a deeper understanding of language and support their reading and writing across the curriculum.
In Year 2, children continue to learn:
- Spelling patterns and rules
- Prefixes and suffixes, such as in- and -ed
- How to use the past tense correctly
- Memory strategies for high-frequency and topic vocabulary
- Proof-reading skills
- How to use a dictionary effectively
- Correct use of apostrophes in contractions such as I’m
Phonics is taught daily for 20 minutes and children are assessed termly to ensure they are making good progress and receiving the support they need to succeed.
For support at home, please watch the alliterative rhymes and actions for Basics 2 here: