Phonics

Intent

At Sharp Lane Primary, we believe every child has the potential to become a confident,successful reader and writer who develops a lifelong love of literacy. Phonics teaching plays a vital role in building this confidence, and we aim to deliver a curriculum that is rigorous,systematic, and supportive of all learners.

We follow the Floppy’s Phonics Sounds and Letters programme, a structured synthetic
phonics approach developed by Debbie Hepplewhite. The progression aligns closely with Letters and Sounds, and the characters used are familiar to pupils through Oxford Reading Tree books. The scheme provides clear guidance on progression, planning, teaching routines, and offers a wide range of resources including interactive whiteboard activities, reading books, activity sheets, display materials, and flashcards.

Synthetic phonics involves identifying graphemes (letters or groups of letters) and blending their corresponding sounds to read words—known as decoding. When writing, children segment sounds (phonemes) and select the appropriate graphemes to represent them—known as encoding. Our aim is to ensure high-quality teaching that enables children to recognise graphemes, understand their associated sounds, and apply these confidently in reading and writing.

Implementation

Through high-quality phonics teaching, we enable children to:

• Develop aural discrimination, phonemic awareness, and understanding of alliteration and rhyme, supporting reading, writing, and spelling development.

• Confidently segment and blend sounds so that decoding skills form a secure foundation for reading, writing, and spelling.

• Apply phonemic awareness across all curriculum areas.

• Learn and recall the 44 phonemes within the English language.

• Recognise graphemes in words and associate them with the correct phonemes when reading.

• Use strategies to identify and decode tricky words within texts.

• Build secure phonetic knowledge and skills so they can decode words accurately and begin to engage with higher-order reading and writing skills.

Impact

By the time pupils leave Sharp Lane, they will:

• Have a strong foundation for managing the complex processes involved in reading and writing.

• Possess secure phonetic knowledge, understanding, and skills, enabling them to decode words confidently and access higher-level literacy skills.

• Have equitable access to reading provision and a wide range of high-quality resources.

• Have the confidence to be a fluent reader with pace, accuracy, and expression.

We recognise that some children may require additional time or support to embed phonics
skills. These pupils are identified early, and targeted interventions are closely monitored to
ensure progress. SEND pupils are supported in line with their individual plans, ensuring they
make meaningful progress in phonics and early reading.