Building the Foundations: A Guide to Phase 1 Phonics

Foundational phonics, frequently called Phase 1 phonics is often disregarded in favour of beginning to learn letter sounds and formation. However, this phase is a vital and imperative step in learning to read and write.

Phase 1 Phonics focuses on phonological awareness – the ability to hear, identify and manipulate the spoken sounds in our language. Unlike later phases, this stage is entirely auditory and oral. There are no written letters or expectations to read words; instead, the focus is on developing children's early language and oracy skills.

Why is Phase 1 Phonics so important?

Research consistently shows that a child’s ability to distinguish sounds in Phase 1 is the single best predictor of their future reading success. Without this foundation, children often struggle to blend and segment sounds later on. If a child cannot differentiate between the "vroom" of a car and the "hiss" of a radiator for example, they will find it significantly harder to distinguish the subtle difference between sounds like /s/ and /f/.

The 7 Aspects of Phase 1

Phonological awareness (Phase 1 phonics) is traditionally broken down into seven distinct aspects, or areas. Here is a summary of what they are and how you can bring them to life in your classroom:

1. Environmental Sounds

Children develop awareness of the sounds in the immediate environment and move from general awareness to specific identification. The term ‘environmental sounds’ can include indoor sounds like the sound of a washing machine, outdoor sounds such as an ambulance siren, and animal sounds. 

• Activity: Listening Walk. Take the children outside with "detective ears" and see how many different sounds they can check off a list (a bird chirping, a car passing, wind in the trees).

2. Instrumental Sounds

Children develop an awareness of sounds made by various instruments and toys, focusing on identification, volume, texture, and pitch.

• Activity: Guess the Sound. Hide an instrument (like a tambourine) behind a screen. Play it and ask the children to guess which instrument made the noise from a selection placed in front of them.

3. Body Percussion

Children use their bodies to create sounds and develop an internal sense of rhythm and pulse.

• Activity: Follow the Leader. Clap a simple rhythm and ask the children to mirror it back. Transition into stamping feet, patting knees or clicking fingers to see if they can match your tempo.

4. Rhythm and Rhyme

Children begin to experience rhythm and rhyme in speech. This helps them to build an appreciation for the patterns of language and to predict what comes next. Singing nursery rhymes and clapping out rhythms to songs or syllables is a vital component of this aspect.

• Activity: Classroom Family Song. All sing (to the tune of the Finger Family Song) “Henry Smith, Henry Smith* where are you?” The named child should respond “Here I am, here I am, how do you do?” Repeat for all children in the group. *Change the name of the child here.

5. Alliteration

Children learn to focus on the initial sounds of words and notice when multiple words start with the same sound.

• Activity: Silly Soup. Use a bowl, a wooden spoon and objects from around the classroom that start with the same sound. "I’m putting in a bear, a bunny, and a ball." Ask the children to go and find more objects to add to the silly soup.

6. Voice Sounds

Children learn the difference between vocal sounds and begin to orally blend and segment through play.

• Activity: Sound Effects Story. Read a story and ask the children provide the vocal sound effects – the whistling wind, "boing" jumping sounds, or a long "shhh" for a stream.

7. Oral Blending and Segmenting

Children explore how to merge sounds together to make a whole word (blending), or to break down a word into some or all of its component sounds (segmenting).

• Activity: Robot Talk. Use a puppet to speak in 'robot talk’. The robot says, "Please pass me the c...u...p." The children must blend the sounds to identify the "cup." You can use this strategy throughout the day, for example, “You can line up if you’re wearing a d...r...e...ss"