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TheSchoolRun.com closure date

As we informed you a few months ago, TheSchoolRun has had to make the difficult decision to close due to financial pressures and the company has now ceased trading. We had hoped to keep our content available through a partnership with another educational provider, but this provider has since withdrawn from the agreement.

As a result, we now have to permanently close TheSchoolRun.com. However, to give subscribers time to download any content they’d like to keep, we will keep the website open until 31st July 2025. After this date, the site will be taken down and there will be no further access to any resources. We strongly encourage you to download and save any resources you think you may want to use in the future.

In particular, we suggest downloading:

You should already have received 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep. If you haven’t received these, please contact us at [email protected] before 31st July 2025, and we will send them to you.

We are very sorry that there is no way to continue offering access to resources and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Parents' guide to Phase 2 phonics

child reading book
Phonics is likely to play a significant role in your child's primary school journey. It helps many children develop the ability to read and spell accurately, often achieved by the end of their second year. Here, we explain what is covered in Phase 2 phonics.

What is phonics?

Chances are, you've heard the term 'phonics' mentioned in the school environment, but what does it entail? Well, it's a method widely used in many primary schools to enhance a child's reading and writing skills. The method involves associating 'phonemes' (sounds) with 'graphemes' (symbols representing the sounds).

You may encounter various phonics schemes depending on the primary school your child attends. While each scheme may have slight differences, generally, your child will be taught using a series of phonics phases gradually introduced throughout the Foundation stage and Key Stage 1.

What is covered in Phase 2 phonics?

During Phase 2 phonics, children learn the sounds that letters make, known as 'phonemes.' Although there are a total of 44 sounds, some composed of two letters, Phase 2 focuses on teaching 19 of the most common, single-letter sounds. These are often grouped into sets (of six sounds) to facilitate learning.

Many schools may begin with sounds such as /s/, /a/, /t/, /i/, /p/, /n/, although this may vary depending on the specific phonics scheme adopted by your child's primary school.

What sounds are taught in Phase 2 phonics?

Here are some of the sounds taught in Phase 2 phonics:

s (strawberry)
a (ant)
t (teddy)
i (igloo)
n (nose)
m (mouse)
d (dog)
g (gate)
o (orange)
c (cat)
k (kite)
ck (duck)
e (egg)
u (umbrella)
r (robot)
h (heart)
b (blast)
f (fish)
ff (off)
l (lolly)
ll (ball)
ss (cross)

Children will also be taught some phase 2 high frequency 'tricky words', such as:

a, an, as, at, and, back, big, but, can, dad, had, get, got, him, his, if, in, is, it, mum, not, on, of, off, up, the, no, to, into, go, I

What reading milestones are expected by the end of Phase 2 phonics?

Generally, by the end of Phase 2 phonics (bearing in mind that every child develops at their own pace), your child should be able to read some vowel-consonant words (at, it, in) and consonant-vowel-consonant words (cat, hot, man) and spell them out. They will also learn some high-frequency 'tricky words.'

How long does Phase 2 teaching last?

Typically, Phase 2 lasts about six weeks. There are usually six phases in total, depending on the scheme chosen by your child's school. There is a Phonics Screening Check that takes place at the end of Year 1, usually in June. This helps the school to establish if any children need extra support with their phonics learning.