Phonic progress tracking

Guidance on the use of the phonic progress tracking sheet:

The importance of careful assessment is highlighted in the Independent review of the teaching of early reading (the Rose Report):

Assessment for learning is vital for planning work that is matched well to children's needs.

Paragraph 59

The most effective assessment was simple, rigorous and purposeful.

Paragraph 61

• This tracking sheet spans the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 and therefore the information should be transferred as children move between year groups.
• You should enter children's names into the relevant box when they begin to work within that phase
• For summative assessment purposes such as reporting or completing the Foundation Stage Profile, you should ensure that the phase descriptor is the best fit for the child's current level of achievement. The child should be using their phonic knowledge and skills independently and consistently

Phase Descriptors

Children working within Phase 6:

• apply their phonic skills and knowledge to recognise and spell an increasing number of complex words
• are secure with less common grapheme-phoneme correspondences, for example s/zh/ 
• can recognise phonic irregularities

Children working within Phase 5:

• can use alternative ways of pronouncing and spelling the graphemes corresponding to the long vowel phonemes, for example /oe/ o-e, o, oa, ow e.g. 'snake'
• can read phonically decodable two-syllable and three-syllable words, for example 'bleating', 'frogspawn', 'shopkeeper'
• can spell complex word using phonically plausible attempts

Children working within Phase 4:

• can blend adjacent consonants in words and apply this skill when reading unfamiliar texts, for example 'spoon', 'cried', 'nest'
• can segment adjacent consonants in words and apply this in spelling

Children working within Phase 3:

• know one grapheme for each of the 44 phonemes
  Within Phase 3(iii)
  Children can read and spell a wide range of CVC words using all letters and less frequent consonant digraphs and some long vowel phonemes, for example 'sheep', 'boat'
  Within Phase 3(ii)
  Children can read and spell CVC words using a wider range of letters, short vowels, some consonant digraphs and double letters, for example 'bell', 'chick'
  Within Phase 3(i)
  Children can read and spell a few CVC words using a limited range of letters and short vowels, for example 'box'

Children working within Phase 2:

• know that words are constructed from phonemes and that phonemes are represented by graphemes
• know a small selection of common consonants and vowels which they can blend for reading and segment for spelling simple CVC words, for example 'sit' and 'tap'

Children working within Phase 1:

• explore and experiment with sounds and words
• distinguish between different sounds in the environment and phonemes
• show awareness of rhyme and alliteration