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At Nutley CE School we use the Synthetic Phonics system to teach phonics.  The children begin learning single sounds when they start in Reception (Phase 2).  During their Reception year, they progress to Phase 3 where they finish learning their single sounds as well as learning 'diagraphs' and 'trigraphs'.  They also learn 'tricky' words from the Reception Common Exception Word list and begin learning the names for the letters of the alphabet.  In Year 1 and 2 the children begin learning and revising sounds from Phase 3 as well as learning alternative spellings for sounds and learning the Common Exception Words for their year group.  Throughout their phonics experience, children are taught to blend sounds together to read words and segmenting sounds to write words.  Teachers use a variety of resources to teach phonics at Nutley, including 'Jolly Phonics' and 'Letters and Sounds'.


We use a variety of reading scheme books organised into coloured bands from lilac to white.  Our main schemes are:


Oxford Reading Tree


Rising Stars - Reading Planet


Dandelion Launchers and Readers.

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