Guidance

Validation of systematic synthetic phonics programmes: self-assessment form guidance

Updated 10 March 2023

The 2021 to 2022 validation process is now completed and there are no imminent future plans to repeat it. The information provided to applicants, including the criteria used and the guidance supplied, remains available for reference.

Submitting a self-assessment form

Programme providers should give advance notice to phonics.validation@education.gov.uk when they’re considering submitting a programme for validation, then follow this process.

1. Use Validation of systematic synthetic phonics programmes: supporting documentation to familiarise yourself with the validation process.
2. Use the self-assessment form (SAF) at Systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) teaching programme validation. Number all self-assessment criteria in the form, as the automatic formatting can sometimes remove the numbers.
3. If your programme website does not support file storage or the files are too large to send as attachments in one email, set up a Google Docs, One Drive or DropBox folder for the evidence for each criteria. Email phonics.validation@education.gov.uk for a list of panel email addresses for granting access permissions, if necessary.
4. Complete the SAF and accompanying evidence for each criteria point. Embed a link to the relevant evidence folder in the SAF boxes for each criteria.
5. Submit the SAF to phonics.validation@education.gov.uk.
6. Make the school references aware that the Department for Education (DfE) will contact them with a survey about using the phonics programme in their school setting, and that they may receive a follow-up call from a validation panel member.
7. Provide contact emails in the school reference information section so the panel can contact school references.

Validation panel guidance for all programme providers

This feedback highlights recurring themes across individual programme providers collated during the first 2 rounds of validation. The panel would like all providers to reflect on this feedback, regardless of validation outcomes.

Accessibility for teachers

The layout and numbering of pages is important, whether teacher manuals or handbooks are online or printed. If the panel struggled to find something, teachers may also have this issue, and this could cause important parts of the programme to be missed.

Overloading of content in lesson plans

Lessons should not be too ‘full’ (for example, an excessive use of songs, games and instruments), especially if there is no explicit guidance for lesson timing and ‘non-negotiable’ elements of lessons. This can lead to cognitive overload and lack of pace. In particular, new teachers may make too much use of the ‘extras’ in phonics lessons.

Programme providers must ensure there is not too much flexibility and fluidity in the timings, activities and sequence. If this were combined with no clear expectations of children’s progress, programmes could leave both teachers and pupils confused and unprepared for standardised assessments.

The programme should leave enough time for pupils to read and write within discrete phonics lessons. Training is needed for additional activities to ensure they encourage full participation by all children and that activities retain focus on the core learning. Use the activity guidance in Reading framework: teaching the foundations of literacy.

Assessing progress and interventions

Programme providers must provide specific guidance in relation to smaller, more targeted activities - for example, one-to-one sessions for children not keeping up, especially the lowest-attaining 20%. They should also include specific separate interventions that could be used to accelerate progress and respond to gap-analysis outcomes.

Decodable materials

The programme needs to:

• ensure that resources are consistent and coherent, and that pupils are able to use them accurately and efficiently to practise phonics
• be linked to books or texts in a book scheme that schools can purchase which will fully support the progression used within the effective delivery of the programme

Ensure that any resubmissions contain a guidance document that shows exactly how the programme’s progression, common-exception words, tricky words and decodable reading material align. This is a vital resource for schools to have to hand and also shows the panel that all books aligned to teaching are fully decodable.

This document is often best presented in a table format, with a column each for the stage of teaching, the grapheme phoneme correspondences and common-exception words taught up to this point, and the book titles.

There needs to be:

• guidance for teachers on how to use decodable materials and how to align these to a formal teaching sequence
• a clear link between guidance on how the order of teaching common-exception words aligns with the sequencing of decodable books or texts

Training

Full guidance about training should be provided. Training should include:

• the principles underpinning the approach
• the pedagogy and how the programme can be effectively implemented
• classroom organisation
• pace and progression linked to national expectations and milestones
• the delivery method within a teaching sequence and key principles of each section
• how to undertake effective and efficient assessment
• gap analysis and subsequent activities to address underachievement or lack of progress

Programmes should provide evidence that set out the options available to schools, including:

• training delivery options (blended, online or face-to-face)
• bespoke options that provide more specialised support
• ongoing support packages and opportunities for self-evaluation and prioritisation for schools before or within the training

Reading framework: teaching the foundations of literacy

All programmes should review the reading framework, particularly the sections on activities and the use of whiteboards in lessons.

Reflect on how your SSP programme align to the guidance in this document and your programme can support schools to align their teaching to the best practice within this guidance.

Validation panel guidance for programme developers

Programme developers should use the panel’s general feedback. They may also find the following suggestions useful to address 2 of the common pitfalls encountered when building programmes on 2007 Letters and Sounds.

A lack of books in phase 5

Books need to cumulatively build alongside the progression, but there are often gaps in this provision for early sound within phase 5.

Schemes can address this by either adding books to this part of the teaching, making their own or combining sources of books, or by changing the progression so that some sounds appear earlier on than in the 2007 progression.

Both approaches are valid, and it is down to the professionalism of a programme developer to choose which approach to take. The programme should provide:

• all that’s essential to teach SSP to children in the reception and key stage 1 years of mainstream primary schools, up to or beyond the standards expected by the national curriculum
• sufficient support for children to become fluent readers

An example of not doing this well is moving phase 4 from reception into year one within the progression with no other changes to the teaching sequence. This has a significant impact on the amount of teaching time there is to adequately cover phase 5. It also means there isn’t much time for consolidation or practice before the test.

Mixing and matching decodable resources

Trying to ensure there are enough books in each phase can cause the mixing and matching of books and resources. While combining resources is not ‘prohibited’ by the validation criteria, it should be done with care, so that the formatting across books is consistent and does not cause confusion. An example of good practice is ensuring that common-exception words are labelled in a similar manner across all books.

Schools need a clear list of when each book is introduced with respect to the progression and weekly teaching planning. This document is often best presented in a table format, with columns for stage of teaching, common-exception words and the book titles.

Example progression using updated Letters and Sounds

DfE funded a number of outstanding schools to develop a progression using Letters and Sounds in the English hubs programme. This was an example of good practice and it’s not mandatory for SSP programmes to use this progression.

Any material funded by DfE is Crown copyright material and can be used by anyone. If you’d like a copy of the example progression, email phonics.validation@education.gov.uk.