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English · Reception and Year 1

Phonics phases explained: a guide for parents

By Dave Allen · Updated · 6 min read

Drafted and fact-checked with AI help, against the sources below. Not yet reviewed by a teacher. How we write our guides

What it is

Phonics
A way of teaching reading by linking the sounds of spoken English to the letters that write them down.
Phoneme
A single sound in a word. The word ship has three: sh, i, p.
Grapheme
A letter or group of letters that stands for one sound, such as s, sh or igh.
Digraph and trigraph
A grapheme made of two letters (a digraph, like ee) or three letters (a trigraph, like igh).
Blend and segment
To blend is to push sounds together to read a word. To segment is to split a spoken word into its sounds to spell it.

English has around 44 sounds but only 26 letters, so many sounds are written with two or three letters. Phonics teaches these links a few at a time, in a set order, so your child can start reading real words early on.

Your child's school will use a phonics programme, and many organise sounds into phases like the ones below. Each programme has its own words and routines. One might say split digraph where another says magic e, so ask the class teacher if a word in the reading book or homework is new to you.

How it's taught at school

Schools are advised to teach phonics every day from the start of Reception. The phases below come from guidance the Department for Education (DfE) published in 2007. Many schools use stages like these, though the exact order of sounds varies from one programme to another.

  • Phase 1: listening and sound games, rhymes and songs. Children learn to hear sounds and to blend and split simple words out loud, before any letters.
  • Phase 2: the first letter sounds, often starting with s, a, t, p, i and n. Children begin to read and spell short words such as sat and pin.
  • Phase 3: the rest of the alphabet and the first digraphs and trigraphs, such as sh, ai and igh. Children also learn the letter names.
  • Phase 4: practising the sounds already learned in words where two consonants sit together, such as the st in stop, and in longer words.
  • Phase 5: new ways to write sounds they already know, such as ay in day and a-e in make. In the 2007 guidance this phase runs through Year 1.
  • Phase 6: children become more fluent readers and more accurate spellers.

By the end of Reception, children are expected to say a sound for each letter of the alphabet and for at least 10 digraphs, and to read simple words and sentences by blending. In Year 1, the national curriculum expects children to respond quickly with the right sound for all 40 or more sounds, including different ways of saying some graphemes.

sh - i - p   ship
Reading a word with a digraph

Alongside the sounds, your child learns some common exception words. These are common words, such as the and was, with a part that doesn't follow the sounds taught so far. You may also hear them called tricky words.

In June of Year 1, children in England take the phonics screening check, a short check of how well they can read words using phonics. Read more in our phonics screening check guide.

Tip
The books your child brings home are usually matched to the sounds they've learned, so they can read most words by themselves. Let them sound out the tricky bits, even when it's slow.

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Common mistakes (and how to help)

Saying letter names instead of letter sounds
When your child is reading, the sound is what helps: s, not ess. Letter names come in too, but for blending, stick to the short sounds.
Adding an uh to sounds, so sun becomes suh-u-nuh
Keep sounds short and clean when you help, such as s and n rather than suh and nuh, and blending gets much easier.
Reading the letters in a digraph one by one
If your child reads shop as s-h-o-p, point to the sh and say it as one sound. Then blend the word again together.
Guessing a word from the picture
Pictures are lovely to talk about, but guessing can stop your child using their phonics. Ask them to sound out the word first, then chat about the picture.

Three quick activities at home

I spy with sounds

About 5 minutes · You need: Nothing: this works at home or out and about

  1. Say: I spy with my little eye something beginning with m. Use the sound, not the letter name.
  2. Your child looks around and guesses.
  3. Take turns, so your child chooses a sound for you.

Talking in sounds at tidy-up time

About 5 minutes

  1. Ask for things in sounds: Can you find your h-a-t?
  2. Your child blends the sounds out loud, says the word and fetches it.
  3. Let your child ask you for something in sounds too.

Read it, then write it

About 10 minutes · You need: A pencil and a scrap of paper

  1. Pick a short word from your child's reading book, such as sat or ship.
  2. Ask your child to read it, then say the sounds while they write them down.
  3. If the spelling makes sense from the sounds, praise it, even if it isn't quite right yet.

Try it with your child

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Questions parents ask

My child's school doesn't use phases. Is that a problem?

No. Schools choose their own phonics programme, and some use different names or stages. What matters is that sounds are taught in a clear order, so ask your child's teacher how their programme is organised.

What should my child know by the end of Reception?

Children are expected to say a sound for each letter of the alphabet and for at least 10 digraphs. They should be able to blend sounds to read words and simple sentences, including some common exception words.

My child seems behind. Should I worry?

Children learn at different speeds. Talk to your child's teacher, who can tell you which sounds to practise and whether any extra help is planned.

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Related guides

Sources

  1. Department for Education: The reading framework
  2. Department for Education: Letters and sounds: principles and practice of high quality phonics
  3. Department for Education: Early years foundation stage statutory framework for group and school-based providers
  4. Department for Education: National curriculum in England: English programmes of study
  5. Standards and Testing Agency: Phonics screening check: information for parents