Phase 5 generally takes the whole of Year 1.

Here is where we start introducing alternative spellings for sounds. These are mastered in reading first and then as their fluency develops we begin to see them used correctly in spelling.

Children learn new graphemes and alternative pronunciations for these: for example, the grapheme 'ow' makes a different sound in 'snow' and 'cow'.

They will learn about split digraphs such as a-e in 'name'.

They will start to choose the right graphemes in spelling and will learn more tricky words.

By the end of year 1 children should be able to:

• Say the sound for any grapheme they are shown
• Write the common grapheme for any given sound (eg. 'e' 'ee' 'ie' 'ea')
• Use their phonics knowledge to read and spell unfamiliar words of up to three syllables.
• Read and spell further taught tricky and high frequency words.

At the end of Year 1 children will take the Phonics Screening Check to ensure that they have mastered the appropriate knowledge.