Research shows that teaching Phonics in a structured and systematic way is the most effective way of teaching young children to read.  Almost all children who receive good teaching of Phonics will learn the skills they need to decifer new and unfamiliar words. At Belvedere Infant School, Phonics is taught on a daily basis and follows the Letters and Sounds programme. Children are taught the skills for segmenting and blending words and are introduced to new phonemes as part of a systematic synthetic approach. The teaching of Phonics begins in Nursery and continues in Years 1 and 2 as children are introduced to alternative graphemes, letter known sounds and begin to learn some of the more complicated spelling rules. At the end of Year 1 children are required to sit the Phonics Screening Check to assess their ability to segment and blend words. Children are presented with 40 words – a mixture of real and pseudo words and they are expected to apply their Phonics knowledge to read the words. If children are unsuccessful in Year 1, they have the opportunity to retake the test in Year 2.

The 2019/20 Phonics Check due in the Summer term did not take place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Instead, schools must administer a past version of the phonics screening check to year 2 pupils between October half term and the end of the term, with results submitted to the local authority.