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Revised
Systematic synthetic phonics in ITT
Key features of effective training
Guidance and support materials
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Introduction
This document is intended to support initial teacher training (ITT) providers in
strengthening provision. It provides a specific focus on the teaching of
systematic synthetic phonics as the prime approach to decoding print and an
essential component of the teaching of early reading. This priority is set out in
the new Teachers’ Standards (DfE 2011) as follows:
Standard 3 A teacher must demonstrate good subject and curriculum
knowledge
 if teaching early reading, demonstrate a clear understanding of
systematic synthetic phonics
The main audience will be primary ITT tutors, colleagues from their partner
schools and trainee teachers. However, all providers of primary and
secondary ITT need to be aware of this priority area.
Guidance
The first part of the document provides guidance on training outcomes for
NQTs in relation to the systematic synthetic phonics element of the Teachers’
Standards. Alongside this, the guidance identifies significant features of ITT
provision which can support ITT providers, working with their partner schools,
in ensuring that trainee teachers achieve the described outcomes.
Supporting Papers and Materials
The second part of the document includes papers and materials designed to
support ITT providers in ensuring that trainee teachers meet the outcomes set
out in the guidance. It exemplifies both training outcomes and effective ways
of working. The papers and materials in the document are intended to be used
flexibly to provide a focus for the on-going development of provision in this
priority area; they can be used to support auditing, evaluation and training.
This part of the document also contains the Criteria for assuring high quality
phonic work (DfE 2011).
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Guidance
The following guidance provides a specific focus on training for the teaching of
systematic synthetic phonics. This is set out in the Teachers’ Standards as:
Standard 3 A teacher must demonstrate good subject and curriculum
knowledge - if teaching early reading, demonstrate a clear understanding of
systematic synthetic phonics (Teachers Standards DfE 2011)
In order to meet this standard trainee teachers should, by the end of their
training and with appropriate induction support:

understand the role of word recognition in the Simple View of Reading.
(The Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading, Final Report,
DfES 2006)

know and understand the alphabetic code

know and understand the Criteria for assuring high quality phonic work and
be able to recognise how they are met in a range of phonic programmes

be able to apply their knowledge and understanding of the Criteria to the
teaching and assessment of phonics using a school’s phonic programme,
providing effective support for all children

be able to identify and provide targeted support for children making
progress both beyond and below the expected level
To ensure that trainee teachers achieve these outcomes ITT providers,
planning and working with their partner schools, should consider:

providing a joint plan of centre-based and school-based training which
sets out how and where trainees will gain the relevant knowledge and
expertise (Paper 2)

Identifying and working with highly effective phonics teachers from
partner schools to ensure trainee teachers:
o are inducted into using a school’s phonics programme
o are trained in teaching and assessing using a school’s
programme
o evaluate their own practice (Papers 2, 3, 4)
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
ensuring trainee teachers take responsibility for finding out about and
reviewing partner schools’ phonic programmes through discussions
with other trainees, tutors and teachers (Papers 3, 4)

monitoring and evaluating the implementation and outcomes of the
training (Paper 2)
Supporting Papers and Materials
1. Introducing systematic synthetic phonics: a short introduction to
systematic synthetic phonics. This can be used to support trainee
teachers and others in developing their understanding of systematic
synthetic phonics. This document also provides an overview, based on
the Criteria for assuring high quality phonic work, of what trainee
teachers need to know and be able to do in order to make effective use
of systematic synthetic phonics programmes in their teaching. Page 5
2. Key features of effective provision - implementing the guidance in
practice: additional detail exemplifying what ITT providers can do to
support trainees in achieving the outcomes set out in the guidance.
Page 9
3. Working with SSP programmes - matching table: support for trainee
teachers and others in matching the essential generic elements of
systematic synthetic phonics to the specific programme they will work
with in a given school.
Page 11
4. Supporting trainee teachers in working with SSP programmes
This document provides prompts for ITT providers, partner schools and
phonics developers for supporting trainee teachers and new teachers
in being able to teach effectively using the range of phonics
programmes.
Page 13
5. Criteria for assuring high quality phonic work (DfE 2011)
Page 15
6. Case studies from ITT partner schools (to follow - in draft)
7. Exemplification of what works well in systematic synthetic phonics in
ITT from ITT partnerships (to follow)
Please note The Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading is an
additional and significant resource. It sets out a series of recommendations for
the effective teaching of early reading. It presents the Simple View of Reading
and makes recommendations for the systematic teaching of phonics. This
report underpins and informs the materials contained in this booklet. (DfES
March 2006. Rose, J. Ref: 0201-2006DOC-EN).
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1 Introducing Systematic Synthetic Phonics
Spoken words and written words
Language is made up of words. Words are made up of sounds (phonemes).
When we write, we use written symbols (graphemes) to represent the sounds.
These graphemes may be single letters or combinations of letters such as sh,
oy and igh. Once we know how these grapheme-phoneme correspondences
(GPCs) work we can encode spoken words in writing for others to read, and
we can decode words that others have written.
Synthetic phonics
The ‘synthetic’ part of the term ‘synthetic phonics’ comes from the part played
by synthesising (blending) in reading as outlined below. Children are taught
grapheme-phoneme correspondences and how to use this knowledge to work
words out from the beginning, starting at the simplest level:

For reading, children are taught to look at the letters from the left to
right, convert them into sounds and blend (synthesise) the sounds to
work out the spoken forms of the words. For example, if children see
the word hat, they need to know what sound to say for each grapheme
(/h/ - /a/ - /t/) and then to be able to blend those sounds together into a
recognisable word. Once words have been read this way often enough
(and this can vary from child to child), they become known and can
then be read without sounding out and blending.

For spelling, children are taught to segment spoken words into sounds
and write down graphemes for those sounds. For example, if children
want to write hat, then they need to be able to split it into the sounds /h/
- /a/ - /t/ and write the appropriate letters.
Learning to read and write in English is particularly difficult because written
English uses a complex alphabetic code, which is why it needs to be taught by
a systematic approach which goes from the simple to the more complex.
Starting at the simplest level means that learning to read and spell can be as
easy in English at this stage as in other languages which are alphabetically
written. Children can thus grasp the basic workings of alphabetic writing
before they have to start dealing with the complexities which are unavoidable
in English. By clearly defining what should be known at each stage, synthetic
phonics programmes allow the early identification of children who are falling
behind and of the areas where they need help (e.g. remembering GPCs,
blending, segmenting). Prompt help can prevent long-term problems.
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Synthetic phonics programmes typically teach children:
1. Grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) at the rate of about
three to five a week, starting with single letters and a sound for each
then going on to the sounds represented by digraphs (e.g. sh and oo)
and larger grapheme units (e.g. air, igh, eigh).
2. Blending of phonemes for reading, starting after the first few GPCs
have been taught and working with more GPCs as they are taught.
3. Segmenting for spelling, again starting after the first few GPCs have
been taught and working with more GPCs as they are taught.
4. The most common spellings for sounds first, later introducing
alternative sounds for spellings and alternative spellings for sounds.
5. Strategies for reading and spelling common, high frequency, words
containing unusual GPCs.
6. To apply word-reading skills in reading books which are closely
matched to their developing skills – level-appropriate decodable texts –
to support them in using their phonemic strategies as a first approach
to reading and spelling and to experiencing success.
Systematic synthetic phonics programmes
These programmes provide a systematic, orderly, teaching framework through
which teachers can support children in developing the phonic knowledge and
skills and in securing the word recognition skills to support them as fluent
readers.
Why is it more difficult to learn to read and write in English than in other
languages?
One reason for the complexity of the English alphabetic code is that changes
in pronunciation over the centuries have not always been accompanied by
changes in spelling. Another reason is that English has absorbed many words
from other languages, often retaining their original spellings.
In English, much more than in other languages,

many letters or letter-combinations can commonly represent more than
one sound – for example ea as in heat and head;

most sounds can be spelt in more than one way – for example the
vowel sound in heat is also commonly spelt as in he, see, chief and
complete;
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
Some
very
common
words
contain
grapheme-phoneme
correspondences that occur in few if any other words – for example
one, two, are, said, great, people, laugh.
In spite of the complexity and the exceptions, however, it is still very important
to teach children how the alphabetic code works in English. Without this
teaching, many children start thinking that all words have to be individually
learnt; this is an impossible task, and once children get the idea that they have
to ‘learn words’ in order to be able to read, this mindset can take over at the
expense of a decoding mindset. There is very much less learning to do if
children are taught how the alphabetic code works and can understand the
underlying logic which underpins all word-reading (see Paragraphs 55 and 56
of Appendix 1 in Jim Rose’s Independent Review of the Teaching of Early
Reading, 2006).
In practice, many children start to self-teach long before all GPCs have been
explicitly taught. A good programme, if followed carefully, will ensure that the
teaching is sound, even if the programme differs in some respects from other
programmes.
Using a Systematic Synthetic Phonics Programme.
The following section, based on the Criteria for high quality phonic work
(appendix 5 ), sets out what newly qualified teachers need to be able to do to
make effective use of systematic synthetic phonics programmes in their
teaching of reading and writing. They need to be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
support children in learning phonic knowledge and skills using a
systematic, synthetic programme, with the expectation that they will be
fluent readers having secured word recognition skills by the end of key
stage one
plan for and teach discrete, daily sessions of phonics, progressing from
simple to more complex phonic knowledge and skills and covering the
major grapheme/phoneme correspondences
assess children's progress in phonic knowledge and skill
use a multi-sensory approach so that children learn variously from
simultaneous visual, auditory and kinaesthetic activities which are
designed to secure essential phonic knowledge and the skills of
blending and segmenting
teach how phonemes can be blended, in order, from left to right, 'all
through the word' for reading
teach how to segment words into their constituent phonemes for
spelling and that this is the reverse of blending phonemes to read
words
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teach children to apply phonic knowledge and skills as their first
approach to reading and spelling even if a word is not completely
phonically regular
8. teach high frequency words that do not conform completely to
grapheme/phoneme correspondence rules
9. teach to the systematic teaching framework of the programmes they
are working with
10. when children are in the early stages of learning phonics, use
decodable texts of the appropriate level where children can apply and
practise the phonic knowledge and skills they have learnt and can
experience success by relying on phonemic blending. They should not
be expected to use strategies such as whole-word recognition and/or
cues from context, grammar or pictures.
7.
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2 . Key features of effective provision: implementing the guidance in
practice
To support trainees in achieving the outcomes set out in the guidance, ITT
providers, planning and working with partner schools so that roles are defined
and coordinated across training, should consider the following.
Centre-based training which includes:

planned and explicitly sign-posted opportunities for all trainee teachers
to be taught, re-visit and apply their knowledge of systematic synthetic
phonics to teaching reading and writing

trainees being taught to identify the principles and practices of high
quality systematic synthetic phonics within the phonic programmes they
work with so they can use them effectively in teaching.(Papers 3,4)
School-based training which includes:

Explicit training in how to teach and assess using the school’s phonics
programme

Planning phonic lessons with a teacher

Observing highly effective teachers model phonic lessons

Partner teaching with an effective teacher of phonics

Being observed by the teacher and given feedback

Training in how to teach individual children who are in danger of falling
behind
(Papers 3,4)
Monitoring, evaluating and auditing which includes:



clearly and coherently mapping and monitoring where training for the
use of systematic synthetic phonics takes place across centre and
school-based training and independent learning, with agreed roles and
responsibilities for school and centre-based staff and trainee teachers
.
explicit systems for assessing, evaluating and tracking trainees’
knowledge and understanding of the use of systematic synthetic
phonics to teach and assess reading and writing.
provision for personalised training programmes to address trainees’
needs, including support with phoneme discrimination: to segment
(hear) and enunciate (say) phonemes clearly.
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Strategic planning by the ITT provider working with partner schools and
quality assurance which includes:

provision for monitoring the use of systematic synthetic phonics to
teach and assess reading and writing across school- and centre-based
training

effective deployment of resources (including staff expertise and time) to
support provision for systematic synthetic phonics

mechanisms for identifying and addressing the training needs of
centre- and school-based staff, including mentors

quality-assured training for school-based mentors, and other staff
involved in training, on the effective use of systematic synthetic phonics
to teach and assess reading and writing, to ensure shared
understandings and expectations.
Improved outcomes for trainees, demonstrated by:



on-going data from Ofsted inspections, course evaluations, TDA visits,
exit surveys, NQT survey and other evidence
evidence of trainees’ ability to use systematic synthetic phonics to
teach and assess reading and writing, collected and reviewed by
literacy subject specialists
evidence analysed and presented against the relevant Standards and
sections of the TDA Self-Evaluation Document.
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Paper 3. Working with systematic synthetic phonics programmes:
matching table
A challenge for trainee teachers and teachers is working with an unfamiliar
phonics programme and being able to use it effectively in their teaching.
The purpose of this document is to provide support in identifying the typical
features of teaching synthetic phonics as they appear in the range of
systematic synthetic phonics programmes which meet the DfE Criteria for
assuring high quality phonic work (appendix 5).
The left-hand side of the table provides a list of the typical features of the
programmes; these reflect the DfE Criteria for assuring high quality phonic
work. The right-hand side allows for a summary of how each of those features
is taught, and where, within a given programme. It also suggests that any
questions are noted.
Typical features of a systematic
synthetic phonics programme
Name of programme
Review the phonics programme and
note in the column below how each
feature is introduced and taught in
this programme. Also note any
questions this raises for you or issues
you want to explore further.
Grapheme-phoneme
correspondences (GPCs)
introduced at the rate of about 3 to
5 a week, starting with single
letters and a sound for each, then
going on to the sounds
represented by digraphs (e.g. sh
and oo) and larger grapheme
units (e.g. air, igh, eigh)
Blending of phonemes for reading,
starting after the first few GPCs
have been taught and working
with more GPCs as they are
taught
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Segmenting of phonemes for
spelling, again starting after the
first few GPCs have been taught
and working with more GPCs as
they are taught
Introduction of the most common
spellings for sounds first and then
introduce alternative sounds for
spellings and alternative spellings
for sounds
Introduction of strategies for
reading and spelling common high
frequency words containing
unusual GPCs
Provision of opportunities for the
application of word-reading skills
in reading books which are closely
matched to children’s developing
skills – level appropriate
decodable texts – to support
children in using their phonemic
strategies as a first approach to
reading and spelling and to
experiencing success.
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Paper 4 Supporting trainee teachers in working with systematic
synthetic phonic programmes
A challenge for many trainee teachers is to teach using the range of different
phonics programmes, both commercial and school-developed, that they meet
in schools. This document provides a model of effective practice for ITT
providers, schools and phonic programme developers, setting out what they
can do to support trainees in working effectively with the range of programmes
and in being able to identify the principles and practices of systematic
synthetic phonics within each phonics programme.
This document is intended to be used flexibly to support local developments.
Programme developers and trainers can
Consider providing a short guide or other supporting resources for trainee
teachers (and new teachers) and the teachers and tutors who work with them,
including:
 an overview of the programme
 an introduction to resources and how to use them
 an explanation of how the programme reflects the DfE criteria for assuring
high quality phonic work.
ITT providers can
Support trainees in understanding:
 what a systematic synthetic phonics programme is and the elements
which different programmes should have in common
 the DfE criteria for assuring high quality phonic work for phonics
programmes, and the principles and practices of high quality phonic
work
 how to recognise these in different programmes to inform their teaching
 the alphabetic code and that it may be taught differently across
programmes.
Ensure that tutors working with trainees in schools know the programmes
used in the schools and the methods used for teaching with them.
Draw on the expertise from partner schools, to demonstrate and support
teaching using different phonic programmes.
Have a range of information available about the programmes used in partner
schools, including, copies of resources and video of effective practice.
Work with schools to set out agreed expectations and outcomes for trainees
during a given placement.
Ensure there are clear, shared expectations in relation to the induction of
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trainees to the schools’ programmes and their on-going support with defined
roles for: tutors, trainees and schools.
Work in partnership with schools to identify how support for trainees in using
their phonics programme can result in additional support for children’s reading
progress.
Schools can
Introduce the trainees to the SSP programme used in the school.
Identify key school staff to oversee trainee induction and on-going work with
their phonics programme, including for example explaining how the
programme supports:
 differentiation
 identification and provision of extra support for pupils making progress
below expectation
and
 how it reflects the DfE criteria for assuring high quality phonic work for
phonics programmes.
Support trainees in developing their teaching of phonics using the school’s
programme, through, for example: shared planning; teacher modelling;
assisted teaching; team-teaching; one- to-one tuition; small group work.
Trainee teachers can
Take responsibility for finding out about the programmes they are going to
work with through discussions with other trainees, tutors and teachers.
Read support materials and observe teaching using the programme.
Review commercially and school-developed phonic programmes, using the
DfE criteria for assuring high quality phonic work.
Share and test their knowledge about systematic synthetic phonics
programmes with other trainees, for example through: workshops, blogs,
Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs).
Ask questions about how the school’s phonics programme works, including:
 how it is applied to reading and writing
 how it supports assessment
 how it addresses all children’s reading and writing needs
Negotiate and be proactive in seeking opportunities to observe, teach and be
observed teaching different stages of phonics progression using the school’s
phonics programme
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Paper 5. The criteria for assuring high quality phonic work (DfE 2011)
The criteria for assuring high quality phonic work provide schools with clearly
defined key features of an effective, systematic, synthetic phonics
programme.
Publishers of products can submit self-assessments and their products to be
reviewed against the core criteria by independent evaluators. These
publishers should contact the phonics mailbox to request a self-assessment
form. They will then need to return the self-assessment form together with two
copies of their product. A list of publishers and their self-assessments that
have been reviewed as meeting the core criteria are available on the ‘Phonics
Products and the Self-Assessment Process’ page.
Published programmes for phonic work should meet each of the following
criteria. Further explanatory notes are offered below.
The programme should:










present high quality systematic, synthetic phonic work as the prime
approach to decoding print, i.e. a phonics ‘first and fast’ approach (see
note 1)
enable children to start learning phonic knowledge and skills using a
systematic, synthetic programme by the age of five, with the
expectation that they will be fluent readers having secured word
recognition skills by the end of key stage one (see note 2)
be designed for the teaching of discrete, daily sessions progressing
from simple to more complex phonic knowledge and skills and covering
the major grapheme/phoneme correspondences (see note 3)
enable children's progress to be assessed (see note 4)
use a multi-sensory approach so that children learn variously from
simultaneous visual, auditory and kinaesthetic activities which are
designed to secure essential phonic knowledge and skills (see note 5)
demonstrate that phonemes should be blended, in order, from left to
right, 'all through the word' for reading
demonstrate how words can be segmented into their constituent
phonemes for spelling and that this is the reverse of blending
phonemes to read words
ensure children apply phonic knowledge and skills as their first
approach to reading and spelling even if a word is not completely
phonically regular
ensure that children are taught high frequency words that do not
conform completely to grapheme/phoneme correspondence rules
provide fidelity to the teaching framework for the duration of the
programme, to ensure that these irregular words are fully learnt (see
note 6)
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
ensure that as pupils move through the early stages of acquiring
phonics, they are invited to practise by reading texts which are entirely
decodable for them, so that they experience success and learn to rely
on phonemic strategies (see note 7).
Explanatory notes
1. Phonic work is best understood as a body of knowledge and skills about
how the alphabet works, rather than one of a range of optional 'methods' or
'strategies' for teaching children how to read. For example, phonic
programmes should not encourage children to guess words from non-phonic
clues such as pictures before applying phonic knowledge and skills. High
quality systematic, synthetic phonic work will make sure that children learn:




grapheme/phoneme (letter/sound) correspondences (the alphabetic
principle) in a clearly defined, incremental sequence;
to apply the highly important skill of blending (synthesising) phonemes,
in order, all through a word to read it;
to apply the skills of segmenting words into their constituent phonemes
to spell; and that
blending and segmenting are reversible processes.
2. Teachers will make principled, professional judgements about when to start
on a systematic, synthetic programme of phonic work but it is reasonable to
expect that the great majority of children will be capable of, and benefit from
doing so by the age of five. It is equally important for the programme to be
designed so that children become fluent readers having secured word
recognition skills by the end of key stage one.
3. The programme should introduce a defined initial group of consonants and
vowels, enabling children, early on, to read and spell many simple CVC
words.
4. If the programme is high quality, systematic and synthetic it will, by design,
map incremental progression in phonic knowledge and skills. It should
therefore enable teachers to: track children's progress; assess for further
learning and identify incipient difficulties, so that appropriate support can be
provided.
5. Multi-sensory activities should be interesting and engaging but firmly
focused on intensifying the learning associated with its phonic goal. They
should avoid taking children down a circuitous route only tenuously linked to
the goal. This means avoiding over-elaborate activities that are difficult to
manage and take too long to complete, thus distracting the children from
concentrating on the learning goal.
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6. The programme should not neglect engaging and helpful approaches to the
more challenging levels where children have to distinguish between phonically
irregular graphemes and phonemes.
7. It is important that texts are of the appropriate level for children to apply and
practise the phonic knowledge and skills that they have learnt. Children
should not be expected to use strategies such as whole-word recognition
and/or cues from context, grammar, or pictures.
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