Ages 3-4
Create a firm foundation for literacy
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Next Steps
Consolidate phonics and develop key literacy skills with Rocket Phonics Next Steps for ages 6-7.
Ages 4-6
Equip learners for phonics and wider literacy successGo to SSP
Ages 6-7
Consolidate phonics and develop key literacy skills with Rocket Phonics Next Steps for ages 6-7.
The final step in the Rocket Phonics journey, for pupils aged 6-7.
- Review and extend previous phonics learning to ensure children meet or exceed age-related expectations.
- Equip children with essential literacy skills for the wider curriculum and the transition to upper primary with a focus on phonics for spelling and writing.
- Use the established teaching and learning cycle (Review, Teach, Practise, Apply and Assess) to maintain consistency between year groups.
- Introduce and gradually develop cursive handwriting to support children in becoming confident writers.
- Use exciting fiction and non-fiction reading books to widen vocabulary, build reading stamina and fluency, and nurture a love of reading.
How to teach
Online subscription
Print resources
CPD
- Revisit and review sounds with flashcards. The 111 colour-banded flashcards are ready-to-use interactive online resources with audio.
- Teach spelling alternatives with Big Books. Each Big Book lasts for a term and tells an original story. As a class, you can listen to the story being read aloud, hear sounds and launch flashcards from inside the books.
- Practise with Pupil Practice Booklets. Our daily Booklets help children to consolidate phonics and develop reading fluency and writing skills.
- Apply with Practice Readers. Children will love reading the range of fun fiction and non-fiction books from the Reading Planet Galaxy and Comet Street Kids strands.
- Practise cursive handwriting with Pupil Practice Booklets. The Booklets also provide weekly cursive handwriting practice.
The impact of Rocket Phonics First Steps
Evaluating the impact of Rocket Phonics First Steps on learners and teachers in early years education
This report shares the experiences of schools involved in trialling Rocket Phonics First Steps, and sets out what this means for those considering adopting a new SSP programme for children in Early Years. The report draws on qualitative data from 11 UK primary schools with EYFS provision, one special school and one independent standalone nursery.
Written by Melissa Mackinlay, Independent Education and Market Research Consultant
Highlights from the report
Rocket Phonics First Steps works. Across the research sample, all participants, including SLT and nursery practitioners, said that they could see an impact on children’s progress and development across a range of areas. “We’ve seen the benefit on children’s acquisition of phonics sounds and how they’re learning and retaining those, developing phoneme grapheme correspondence which means they’re readier to start a formal programme [in Reception]”.
Impact Report Evaluating the impact on learners and teachers in early years educationThe structure and progression mean that practitioners can identify children who are struggling with a sound and quickly put in place additional support. “…the order of the speech sounds … follows their development which helps their communication and language. I’ve seen an impact already with children who need support around the pronunciations of those sounds.”
Impact Report Evaluating the impact on learners and teachers in early years educationCompared with children who were joining Reception from settings which had not used it, pupils who had followed Rocket Phonics First Steps were more secure in their learning, and familiar with the routine of a structured daily phonics session. “[Colleagues in Reception] said they could see a huge difference in those children that had done it the year before in comparison to those that come in from external nurseries that had never done it before.”
Impact Report Evaluating the impact on learners and teachers in early years educationAdopting Rocket Phonics First Steps has boosted staff confidence through the provision of practical training and easy-to-use resources. The daily lesson plans provide clear step-by-step support, and the consistent structure makes it easy to embed it into their provision. “We have that confidence – we’re doing this in nursery and we know what we’re doing.”
Impact Report Evaluating the impact on learners and teachers in early years educationRocket Phonics First Steps is more than just a phonics programme: it is based on an holistic approach to developing speech and language. “We love the fact it’s a phonics programme and language programme combined… it’s your vocab, it’s your writing, your understanding, your comprehension, it’s all the [elements]. They all draw together.”
Impact Report Evaluating the impact on learners and teachers in early years education
What teachers are saying...
We love the way that aspects of grammar, spelling and handwriting are interwoven into the scheme.
Louise Johnston, KS1 Lead Cheadle Heath Primary SchoolThe termly overviews are fantastic! It is clear there is sufficient challenge and progression moving forward from Year 1.
Amy Clarke, Deputy Headteacher Newick Church of England Primary SchoolIt gives children secure foundations in reading and spelling in preparation for learning in Key Stage 2. Children who arrive to our school new from other countries have also benefited from the scheme.
Laura Foley, Phonics Lead Woodlands Primary School
Introduction from the Author
Abigail Steel talks through the print and online resources in Rocket Phonics Next Steps.
Rocket Phonics Next Steps continues the Rocket Phonics journey into Year 2 (age 6-7). Written by expert Abigail Steel, it consolidates phonics and develops key literacy skills.
With a Rocket Phonics Online Next Steps subscription, you can access a library of bitesize CPD videos to support you in delivering the programme. Topics include assessment, handwriting and spelling.
In Next Steps, children do not learn any new letter-sounds. Instead, they consolidate their knowledge of sounds by revisiting all the alphabetic code from the previous years. The alphabetic code is revised by grouping it by individual phoneme and looking at the different ways of spelling that sound (an example would be the sound /ai/ which can be spelt in a variety of different ways). In Next Steps, we introduce cursive handwriting and explicitly cover National Curriculum spelling requirements.
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