Some children start Reception having never attended Nursery. What would we do to support the children who have missed the Foundations for phonics stage?

All children will start at Phase 2, regardless of whether they have been to Nursery or not. We make a strong start teaching phonics in Reception so all children learn to read quickly. This is recommended by Ofsted and the Department for Education.

More importantly, we want children to learn to read as a priority. Phase 1 is not a prerequisite for children progressing to Phase 2, where they begin to learn the sounds that letters make.

We teach oral blending in every lesson in every phase as we know it remains an important part of blending words to read. The initial phonics lessons are short lively lessons that will take 10 minutes. They will help children to learn the routines and are full of fun. We play an oral blending game every day to start with. Schools across the country start teaching phonics in this way every year and find it really helps children settle in.