Scope & Sequence
Learning Overview for Peaks 1–20

In Phase 2, children learn the sounds that letters make (phonemes). By the end of Phase 2 children are reading some vowel-consonant (VC) and consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. They also know some high-frequency ‘tricky words’ like ‘the’ and ‘go’. Children learn to sound out each phoneme and blend these sounds together to read new words. For example, they will blend the sounds c-a-t to make the word cat. They will also start learning to segment words for spelling. Letters and sounds are introduced in this order: s, a, t, p, m, I, d, n, g, o, c, k, ck, e, r, u, l, h, f, b, ll, ss, ff.

In Phase 3, children are able to blend and segment words containing the 19 letters taught in Phase 2. During this phase, 25 new graphemes are covered, one at a time, including the most common digraphs and trigraphs. Letters and sounds are introduced in this order: j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu. Consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th, ng. Vowel digraphs and trigraphs: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, er, ure.

In Phase 4, children blend and segment words containing the letters, sounds and digraphs previously taught in Phases 2 and 3. They consolidate this knowledge to blend and segment words containing adjacent consonants, as well as polysyllabic words. The main focus of Phase 4 is on CVCC, CCVC, CCVCC and CCVC words. For example, hand, swim, spend, and string.

In Phase 5, children blend and segment words containing the adjacent consonants taught in Phase 4. In Phase 5, they learn more adjacent consonants, as well as polysyllabic words. Children learn new graphemes and phonemes, and their alternative pronunciations when reading and spelling. Letter and sounds are introduced in this order: ay, ie, ea, oy, ir, ou, ue, aw, wh, ph, ew, oe, au, ey, a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e. Children learn alternative pronunciations of graphemes, with specific focus on: c, g, ow, ea and y. They will also learn alternative spellings for phonemes, with specific focus on: tch, dge, kn, wr and mb.