The phonic phases are taught in different year groups and children are supported to keep up through intervention.
It is taught as a whole class approach.
Phase 1: Preschool
Phase 2, 3 and 4: Reception
Phase 4 recap and Phase 5 a, b, c: Year One

Phase 1 is taught in preschool and then runs throughout all the phonic phases. Children learn to hear and say sounds, play with rhyme, rhythm and alliteration and orally blend and segment.

Phase 2 begins in Reception from Week 3. The children learn the following phonemes—s a t p i n m d g o c k e u
r ck h f b l ss ll ff
Each sound has an action and word.

Phase 3 teaches the children the rest of the phonemes including digraphs and trigraphs - j v w x y z zz qu sh ch th ng ai ee igh oa oo oo ar or ur ow oi ear air ure er

Phase 4 teaches the children to use the graphemes they know to blend and segment words with 4 or 5 phonemes, and longer words that can be chunked to read eg desktop - desk/top

Phase 5 teaches the children the alternative graphemes for the 42 phonemes they know
5a - ay ou ie ea nk oy ir ue ue ph aw ew wh ew au oe ey tch a-e e-e i-e o-e u-e u-e
5b - alternative pronunciations for graphemes - a e i o u ow ie ea er ou y ch c g ey
5c - alternative graphemes for these phonemes - ch j m n r s z u i ear ar air or ur oo ai ee igh oa oo oo sh