Reception
Where they start
What your child is learning
Reception is where phonics begins. By the end of the year, in a Little Wandle school (most state primaries), your child will have been taught the basic letter sounds (s, a, t, p, i, n and the rest) and common two-letter sounds (sh, ch, ai), and will be blending them into short words like 'stamp' or 'crunch'. School calls this Phases 2, 3 and 4.
What the school might call it
A grapheme is a letter or letters for one sound; a phoneme is the sound itself. So sh is one grapheme for the phoneme /sh/. Tricky words (the, was, said) cannot be sounded out yet and are learned by sight, a few at a time.
What you might see, hear, or be sent home
Usually two books a week: a decodable book matched to the sounds taught, which your child reads to you; and a sharing book, which you read to them, for stories and vocabulary, not as a reading test.
Common questions at this stage
'My child can already read, why are the books so easy?' Phonics is also for spelling and writing. A fluent reader may still be building the code they need to write.
Year 1
How the code expands
What your child is learning
Year 1 is mostly Phase 5: learning that English spells one sound several ways. The /ai/ sound can be ai (rain), ay (day), a_e (cake) or ey (they). The aim is a toolkit big enough that most words are decodable.
What the school might call it
'Phase 5' is the main phrase. Within it: split digraph (two letters split by another, the a and e in 'cake'), alternative pronunciation (same letters, different sound: 'cat' vs 'city'), and alternative spelling (same sound, different letters: 'rain' vs 'day'). You will also hear about the Phonics Screening Check, in the week of 8 June 2026, a short one-to-one reading task with the class teacher.
What you might see, hear, or be sent home
Decodable books at later phases, often colour-banded (Pink, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green). Schools usually reassess every six weeks. Before the check you will hear about 'alien words', made-up but rule-following words that test decoding without letting a child rely on memory.
Common questions at this stage
'What if my child does not pass?' They retake at the end of Year 2 after extra support. About one in five children do not meet the threshold in Year 1, and most catch up within the following year. (Fuller detail in the screening-check guide.)
Year 2
From phonics to spelling patterns
What your child is learning
Most children are past the core programme and into spelling patterns and fluency. Little Wandle does not run formally in Year 2; schools revisit anything still insecure and teach the Year 2 spelling expectations, endings like '-tion', '-sion' and '-le', and suffixes like '-ness', '-ful', '-less', '-ment', plus the common exception words.
What the school might call it
'Spelling patterns' more than 'phonics'. Also homophones (hear/here), suffix (the 'ful' in helpful), and common exception words. Some children retake the screening check in June.
What you might see, hear, or be sent home
Weekly spelling lists, often with a Friday test. Decodable books continue for children still on Phase 5; most others move to colour bands or freer choice. Being read to still matters; it is one of the strongest predictors of comprehension.
Common questions at this stage
'My child reads well now, is phonics over?' The reading side is mostly secure. Spelling is where it continues, because English has so many patterns.
Year 3
Reading to learn
What your child is learning
Year 3 begins Key Stage 2: the shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Most children are fluent decoders. Spelling continues through the Year 3–4 patterns: prefixes (un-, pre-, dis-, re-), endings like '-ture' and '-sure', and tricky-origin words (gym, school). Children with gaps get a Rapid Catch-up programme.
What the school might call it
Prefixes (unhappy, disappear), etymology (Greek and Latin roots that explain English spelling), and comprehension terms: inference (what the text implies), retrieval (what it states), prediction.
What you might see, hear, or be sent home
Longer spelling lists with pattern notes; reading records that ask for comments; topic-based reading. Banded books usually stop unless your child is on catch-up. Reading for pleasure becomes the main ask.
Common questions at this stage
'Should I still listen to my child read?' Yes, ten minutes most days is still the single most useful thing. Ask them to tell you what happened, not just read it.