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Letters and sounds: Principles and practice of high quality phonics

What is it?

The Primary National Strategy's new phonics resource Letters and sounds: Principles and practice of high quality phonics, replaces Progression in phonics and Playing with sounds which are being withdrawn. Letters and Sounds is a high quality phonics resource which encapsulates the recommendations of the Independent review of the teaching of early reading and meets the DfES published core criteria  which define a high quality phonics programme.

Both the Primary Framework and the Early Years Foundation Stage mark significant steps in the drive to raise standards and personalise learning so that all our children achieve their full potential. Letters and Sounds, with its alignment to both documents, gives early years practitioners and teachers a powerful phonics teaching tool to ensure that by the end of Key Stage 1 children have developed fluent word reading skills and have good foundations in spelling.

The pack (ref 00281-2007FLR-EN) contains Notes of guidance, a six-phase teaching programme, a DVD and a poster:

• The Notes of guidance form an introduction to help practitioners and teachers use the programme effectively. 
• There are six incremental phases.  Phase one concentrates on activities to promote speaking and listening skills, phonological awareness and oral blending and segmenting.  Phases two to six focus on high quality phonic work. 
• The DVD includes clips filmed in a range of schools which illustrate effective practice in each phase.

Five copies have been sent directly to all primary, infant and junior schools as well as middle deemed primary schools. If you work in a Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) setting your local authority will be responsibe for ordering and distributing copies of the new materials. You will need to contact your local early years advisory service for details of how they will be arranging distribution. Further copies can be ordered through Prolog from June 2007 onwards.

Guidance and  documents phase 1 - 6 are available to download below.

NOTE These resources, including video clips, are all available on the Letters and Sounds area of the new Primary National Strategy Communication Language and Literacy Development (CLLD) website.
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/clld

Downloads

Letters and sounds: Guidance (PDF 1.4Mb)

Letters and sounds: Phase one (PDF 2.3Mb)

Letters and sounds: Phase two (PDF 1000Kb)

Letters and sounds: Phase three (PDF 1010Kb)

Letters and sounds: Phase four (PDF 1.1Mb)

Letters and sounds: Phase five (PDF 1.0Mb)

Letters and sounds: Phase six (PDF 558Kb)

Letters and sounds: Appendix (PDF 419Kb)

Letters and sounds: Acknowledgements (PDF 42Kb)