This year’s traditional year 1 phonics screening check (PSC) reflections take a different slant; we give you a top ten of concrete, scaffolded, activities to use with your very most struggling decoders and spellers.

Our phonics screening check analyses continue to show, year upon year, that the largest weighting of target items in these assessments covers curriculum content prior to that year group’s ARE… leaning very much into the values around ‘no child left behind’ (see table at foot of blog: ‘Trends in types of Y1 PSC challenge’). This year, as before, it has been possible for a pupil to meet the expected standard in the Y1 phonics screening check with very little Y1 knowledge (gauged against most schools’ SSP expectations); 32 marks were entirely possible if you had secured merely Year 1 Autumn 1 learning, and all 40 marks if Year 1 Autumn 2 learning was secured (see boxes shaded cream below, taken from our free downloadable analysis tool):

So early skills, revisited often, are key here. There has never been a better time to continue looking to level up the playing field for as many of our pupils with SEND as we can. By using the sort of concrete practice suggested in the ten top tips below, the research is now showing that closing this gap is entirely possible (for research to follow up, see last year’s 2024 Phonics Screening Check blog).

The activities shared in the downloadable resource above can be used very much as part of your Ordinarily Available Provision (high quality teaching), especially in YR/Y1, but also as additional concrete catch-up, or as part of your gap-closing interventions focused on foundational skill fluency. (For rationale behind these methods, see DfE (2023) The Reading Framework, research cited on phonics and SEND.) 

So, what impact can you expect from these top tips? 

Concrete: 

There’s something quietly powerful about a row of empty boxes on a laminated sheet — especially when they become a playground for literacy. Sound boxes (or El’konin boxes, after its creator the 1960s Russian psychologist, D.B. El’konin), a classic tool in phonics instruction, offer children a visual and kinaesthetic way to explore the sounds within words. But beyond simply pushing counters across a page, how we use them — and how we model them — makes all the difference. 

Connected: 

This top ten isn’t just about techniques. It’s about connection: between teacher and child, between speech and print, between sound and symbol. It encourages us to slow down speech, spotlight structure, and build up self-regulation. Whether you’re guiding a reluctant reader or supporting a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), these approaches offer multisensory, brain-friendly and inclusion-ready ways to nudge phonemic awareness forward — and make it stick.  

Scaffolded-in: 

Each strategy begins with a shared experience. ‘I, we, you’ modelling is more than an instructional phrase — it’s a scaffold for confidence. In ‘Touching Trucks’, we begin by noticing — left to right, sound by sound — as coloured vehicles roll across an invisible soundscape. Blocks, buttons, and tiddlywinks turn abstract phonemes into concrete objects to grip, move, and arrange. These small, tactile shifts invite children to feel the rhythm of language in their fingertips. 

Strategic: 

From there, the strategies deepen: Continuous Phonation models deliberate elongation of sounds, ideal for children who need extra auditory cues. Springboarding prompts cumulative re-reading, helping children latch onto and join up what's already known before leaping to what’s new. And for those moments when transcriptional fluency lags behind decoding, ‘Say it, write it, check it, stroke it, check it’ adds a brisk, purposeful momentum. 

Relational: 

Perhaps most beautifully, this top ten leaves space for reciprocity — not just in phonics terms, but in emotional terms. When an adult pauses to ask, “Does that look right?” they’re inviting self-regulation, reflection, perseverance and growth. And by introducing Letter Boxes and Sleeping Lions, this list opens the door to morphology, syllable awareness, and even expressive speech support — gently bridging decoding with comprehension. 

These activities don’t require expensive materials or specialist tools. But they do ask something of us as educators: to tune into how language feels, not just how it sounds. To offer routine and novelty in equal measure. To create a rhythm that children can fall into, even when learning feels bumpy. 

So, whether you’re just getting started with sound - or El’konin – boxes, or looking for ways to refresh your practice, let this top ten reawaken your curiosity. Pull out the phoneme frames. Invite some buttons. Make the sounds sticky, meaningful, and joyfully repeatable. 

Because in the right hands — and with the right modelling — those simple boxes can build something truly lasting. 

Trends in types of Y1 PSC challenge:

If you are looking to enhance practice and pupil outcomes, the following resources may be of interest: 

ESSENTIALSPELLING: a fully inclusive resource that uses retrieval and over-learning to help close gaps in spelling, and therefore also in decoding. 

Phonics Screening Check – next steps: On-demand e-learning designed to support forensic needs analysis of your lowest attainers in phonics, and map out gap-closing provision for the next academic year. Comes with entire back-catalogue of HFL Excel analysis tools. 

References

A tale of two biggies: the two A’s of phonics (Assessment & Application) 

‘Fight'n Words? The Dyslexia Debate Revisited’ in conversation with Julian Elliott 

DfE (2023) The reading framework

Related training

HFL and ISL Universal / Universal Plus SEND training on HFL Hub, session 3 on literacy difficulties (funded / FREE to Herts schools with code) 

Phonics screening check- what next? (attendees receive full back catalogue of HFL’s Y1 PSC Excel Analysis Tools for FREE) 

Effective small group reading in Reception and Y1 

In 2020, after extensive planning, developing and thorough trialling, the Primary English Team at HFL Education launched ESSENTIALSPELLING. This resource is a whole class approach to teaching spelling that enables all children to succeed, and gives teachers the unique tools to make that happen.  Five years on we are relaunching the product - refreshed and restocked. This blog looks back at the lessons we learned during our research - what makes an impactful spelling scheme? How do we ensure lessons build solid foundations in spelling, develop automaticity and fluency in transcription and leave no child behind? 

Writing is a complex skill involving the synthesis of multiple elements. The current primary cohort are still impacted by the disruption to their learning through the pandemic at a time when they were laying down foundational learning. These foundations should have been firmly embedded in the early stages of literacy- the cornerstone upon which to build more advanced knowledge and skills. Instead, for many children, building blocks are vulnerable and shaky, or even missing.  

Over the last couple of years, messaging from the DfE and Ofsted has consistently highlighted the need for a heightened focus on transcription skills. Put simply, transcription involves converting spoken language into a written form: namely handwriting and spelling. This contrasts with the creative skills of composition. Transcriptional skills form the vital core of foundational learning in writing and a child who struggles to encode their taught graphemes, form their letters accurately, or even hold a pencil comfortably, will have little headspace for creative ideas. Conversely, the more fluent a child becomes in spelling and handwriting, the more they are then cognitively liberated to focus on their composition.  By supporting children to strengthen their spelling skills and build automaticity in this area, we can have a positive impact on their writing attainment.  

With this in mind, leaders will no doubt be looking to raise the profile of spelling across their school and evaluating the effectiveness of resources and schemes already in place. A one-size-fits-all approach is rarely the answer.  

As a class teacher, I would always find it challenging to include the varied needs of all thirty writers within a single lesson: spelling confidence varied hugely no matter which age group I was teaching. As an adviser - even before the legacy of Covid - I could see other teachers dealing with the same issue. The answer, in many cases, was to remove groups of children for phonics and spelling interventions that rarely seemed to close the learning gap. In fact, especially when administered during class spelling lessons, such interventions typically exacerbated the problem. An additional concern for teachers was that spelling schemes seemed to focus on end of year or phase expectations and there was no support to tailor materials at other points of the year or phase.  

In 2018, my colleague Sabrina and I began working with teachers on a spelling intervention project - Spelling SOS. Through analysis of reams of children’s writing, we had noticed that similar issues occurred universally from Y3 to Y6 and seemed to be preventing children from moving on in their orthographic understanding. We supported KS2 teachers to identify and target specific gaps in children’s spelling knowledge, prioritise the areas that would generate the greatest impact and work through a systematic programme of study with these children. The outcomes for each spelling cohort were superb. What teachers told us each time was that they wished they had a resource that could support the rest of their class in this way! This made us realise that -detailed though it was - the spelling programme of study in ‘Curriculum 2014’ was not addressing the needs of all children. Could there be another way? 

ESSENTIALSPELLING was designed to answer the questions and address the concerns that teachers typically have about spelling. Phonology, morphology and etymology are woven into a progression of lessons that systematically build on prior learning, support pupils to make connections with existing knowledge and develop strategies that will help them grow their spelling competence.  Pupils are encouraged to articulate their learning throughout the sequence. It is through explaining what they have learnt about the patterns and processes of spelling that they will improve their ability to spell accurately.  

Schools implementing ESSENTIALSPELLING’s approach see swift impact on children’s confidence in spelling. Here’s what one school, who have used it consistently over the last five years has to say about it: 

What can we learn from the ESSENTIALSPELLING approach?  

This spelling resource is different to other spelling schemes. It focuses on the pedagogy of spelling so that children understand how to apply patterns, strategies and knowledge to any words they meet. It empowers children to build words - they are shown how to become spellers for life, rather than remember spellings for a week. Teachers feel similarly empowered - rather than delivering spelling via a sequence of slides, they gain the knowledge and skills to instruct and advise on spelling - adapting, modelling and exploring alongside the children.  

So how do you do that?  

Each learning objective is taught as a flexible series of lessons following the teaching sequence for phonics and spelling of Review, Teach, Practise and Apply. ESSENTIALSPELLING’s approach could be applied to any spelling curriculum or used to enhance any scheme being used.  

Review prior learning 

Build in time to review learning before beginning any teaching sequence for spelling. This is not ‘what did we learn last week?’ but instead: ‘What do we already know that might help us to spell words with a similar pattern or theme?’ Track back through the curriculum to find linked learning that will reignite children’s prior knowledge. A review session is imperative because it gives teachers an opportunity for assessment for learning and gives pupils the chance to build connections between existing knowledge and new knowledge.  

Reviewing prior learning goes way beyond the consideration of ‘what do we already know about this spelling pattern’. The national curriculum clearly states that all year groups should have the opportunity to revisit learning from previous year groups. Any spelling scheme should therefore include plenty of sequences dedicated to just that. The alternative is to expect children to remember concepts such as: split vowel digraphs from Year 1; the pluralisation of words ending in ‘y’ from Year 2 or the various prefixes from Years 3/4. Generally, the earlier a spelling pattern is taught, the higher its relevance and frequency in children’s writing.  

If you were in any doubt as to the ‘why’ of reteaching, a swift analysis of the end of Year 6 spelling assessment will demonstrate how a scheme that tracks back to previous year group teaching benefits its pupils. Here is an analysis of this year’s paper:

Teach and model new learning  

The teach part of the sequence is vital but often underdeveloped, especially in KS2. Just as the SSP schemes teach children about the new grapheme being taught and how it combines with other graphemes to build words, spelling lessons need to teach children about the spelling pattern and how to build target words. Any teaching resource used in the classroom needs to provide essential subject knowledge that will support teachers to fully understand and explain the learning behind the lesson.  

Practice 

The practising stage of a sequence should provide straightforward activities that can be undertaken independently by children during the lesson or even at home. The emphasis here is on exploration and word building, rather than rehearsing a prescribed list of words. Games and activities designed to practise spelling should never form the mainstay of a spelling sequence. Practice can only reinforce what has been taught. 

Application 

The apply stage of a spelling sequence should involve children discussing their learning and articulating their spelling knowledge. Testing of individual words may be meaningless unless children are supported to consolidate spellings from short term memory into long term memory. Rather than memorising a few individual words, children should be encouraged to learn a pattern or spelling convention that would empower them to unlock many more similar words. Dictation -a statutory requirement of the national curriculum - is a hugely effective way of children applying their knowledge in context and this reinforcing understanding. Of course, the application of spelling goes way beyond a spelling lesson and children should be challenged to choose and use words independently and monitor their accuracy.  

Wherever possible, all children should take part in these parts of the sequence regardless of prior spelling attainment. The Review section of a lesson will track back to prior learning and the Teach section introduces new learning as well as strategies for tackling spelling. Unless children are supported towards age-related spellings, their attainment gap in spelling will grow wider. Rather than offer alternative objectives to children who have fallen behind, make adaptations to scaffold learning or reinforce linked learning. The Practise and Apply sections give children the opportunity to rehearse spelling patterns and use them in context, but learning can be personalised to meet the needs of each learner. Where gaps are more significant and overlearning is necessary, children should receive an intervention in addition to - and not instead of - the class spelling lesson. 

If you want a resource that has plotted all that in for you, do explore ESSENTIALSPELLING and see what you think. You can download free samples from our ESSENTIALSPELLING page. 

The complete resource features a year’s worth of teaching sequences for each year group; all inter-related and all following on in logical progression. A key strength of the scheme is, I believe, the fluid nature of it, rather than being a ‘one-size fits all’ approach.  

ESSENTIALSPELLING embeds opportunities for assessment for learning at every turn, so it is as much a diagnostic tool as anything else, helping teachers to identify gaps in learning and enabling them to rapidly fill those gaps and rebuild children’s confidence. Every sequence shows teachers how to support the children who have small gaps in their previous learning - as well as those who have not secured the foundations needed for any given sequence - without the need for removing children from the class lesson and without the requirement of additional adult support.  

Children are encouraged to explore words and their meanings; they have agency over their learning and their curiosity is harnessed. Above all, ESSENTIALSPELLING is designed to put the joy of teaching and learning spelling back into the classroom! 

Year group 2 booklet costs £90. Year group booklet for years 4, 5 and 6 costs £70 (or £300 for the set of all year groups). (exc. VAT)

Once again, we are running some training events to help you get the most out of the resources. The training dates for ESSENTIALSPELLING are as follows: 

ESSENTIALSPELLING in Year 2: 7th October 2025 
ESSENTIALSPELLING in Years 3 and 4: 14th October 2025 
ESSENTIALSPELLING in Years 5 and 6: 20th October 2025 

You can book on the HFL Education Hub 

Each training event begins with a pre-recorded video that lasts one and a half hours and can be watched at a time to suit you. This session leads you through the fundamentals of phonics and spelling and provides an introduction to ESSENTIALSPELLING. Delegates are encouraged to carry out some short gap tasks to familiarise them with the book and other useful resources. During the subsequent live webinar, we show you how to use the scheme to meet the needs of your individual learners, and adapt teaching to the pupils in your classes. We will also answer any questions you might have. All sessions will be recorded for delegates to access for the remainder of the academic year. 

If this all sounds like something you’ve been looking for, and you want to hit the ground running in September when it comes to spelling, then I hope to see you at one of our sessions. 

Building independence in young children is one of the most powerful things we can do as early years practitioners. Independence doesn't ‘happen’ overnight. It’s a skill we nurture carefully through the experiences we provide and the behaviours we model every day.

When children are given the tools, time, and trust to do things for themselves, they grow in confidence, developing their resilience, and problem-solving skills - all vital foundations for lifelong learning and success. These experiences support not just academic achievement, but also social, emotional, and physical development.

Encouraging independence from an early age helps children feel capable and valued. It shows them that their ideas, choices, and efforts matter. Over time, independent children develop stronger self-esteem, better concentration, and an increased willingness to try new things, even when they are challenging! Importantly, for children with SEND, independence may look different – and that’s okay. Flexibility, choice, and responsive support are essential to ensure all children feel empowered to develop independence in a way that suits them best.

Why independence matters

Independence isn't just about ‘doing things alone.’ It’s about developing critical skills like decision-making, persistence, and self-regulation. These are essential for life-long learning and for life beyond school. When we support independence thoughtfully, we help children become confident, capable learners who believe in their own ability to make a difference.

How we can support independence

Create an enabling environment 

Children thrive when they can access what they need without having to ask an adult every time. Use low-level shelves, clear labels with pictures and words, and include open-ended resources. Make sure there are clear spaces and routines for children to return items when they have finished. Including a photo of ‘what tidy looks like’ helps children to be able to put things back independently. When children can choose and use resources freely, they develop responsibility for, and pride in, their environment.

Be patient

Developing true independence takes time – and that often means slower routines and lots of modelling and gentle reminding. It can be tempting to jump in and ‘rescue’ children when they struggle, but stepping back gives them the chance to work things out. Offer encouragement and acknowledge their effort, even if the task isn’t completed perfectly. Remember, the process is more important than the outcome.

Model and narrate

Children learn so much by watching adults. Show them how to do tasks step-by-step, describing your actions as you go (“First, I fix the bottom of the zip in place then zip the coat up at the bottom... then I pull it up to the top."). This supports understanding and language development at the same time. Regular modelling helps children feel more confident when they try it for themselves.

Offer real choices

Giving meaningful choices shows children that their voice matters. This could be as simple as choosing between two activities, selecting a snack, or deciding which book to read. Offering choices also supports communication skills and emotional regulation, helping children feel respected and empowered.

Celebrate effort, not just achievement

Praising effort encourages a growth mindset, where children learn that perseverance can lead to success. Instead of focusing only on end results ("You did it!"), recognise the process ("You kept trying even when it was tricky – that's amazing!"). This builds resilience and helps children develop a positive attitude towards challenges.

Practical ideas to build independence

Self-serve snack station 

Set up a simple snack area where children can pour their own drinks and choose from a small selection of healthy snacks. Use child-sized jugs, cups, and tongs to support fine motor skill development and hygiene. Visual prompts like "one scoop" or "two pieces", can help guide choices without constant adult direction, giving children ownership of the routine. *Remember, whilst eating, children must be within sight and hearing of a member of staff.

Dressing challenges

Outdoor play offers a brilliant opportunity for independence. Teach children simple techniques like the ‘Montessori coat flip’ method for putting on coats (Tag to the toes, hands in the holes and flip). You could even introduce fun dressing challenges or songs to encourage children to put on their shoes, wellies, and waterproofs by themselves. Celebrate small successes to build their confidence.

Tidy up time roles

Assign groups of children areas of learning for tidy up time such as the book area, or home corner to develop responsibility for looking after shared spaces. Have photographs to show children what tidy ‘looks like’ that they can copy and be successful in their role. Rotating these jobs regularly gives children a chance to help in different areas of the classroom as well as reinforcing the idea that we all help take care of our learning environment.

Choice boards

Create simple boards with photos, symbols, or words showing activity choices. Children can select from activities like painting, construction, or quiet reading, supporting decision-making and independence. Choice boards are especially powerful for children with SEND or emerging language skills, offering a clear and accessible way to communicate preferences.

Visual prompts and routines

Use visual timetables, first/then boards, and simple checklists to help children anticipate what’s coming next and manage transitions independently. For example, a visual 'getting ready for home' list (coat, bag, book) can prompt children to organise themselves without needing reminders from an adult.

Problem-solving opportunities

Rather than stepping in immediately when a child faces a challenge (like a puzzle piece that won’t fit or a toy out of reach), encourage problem-solving. Use prompts like "What could you try next?" or "Who could help you?" This builds resilience and critical thinking, showing children that things being challenging sometimes is a normal part of learning.

Final thoughts

Supporting independence isn't about expecting children to do everything on their own — it’s about creating a safe, encouraging environment where they can have a go, make choices, and feel proud of their efforts.

When we offer trust, time, and patience, we help children build the confidence to try, the resilience to keep going, and the belief that they are capable learners. Independence grows one small ‘moment’ at a time; tying a shoe, pouring a drink, solving a problem, and each success, no matter how small, lays a foundation for future learning.

As early years practitioners, we have a powerful role to play. By standing alongside children, guiding when needed, stepping back when possible, we show them they are trusted, valued, and ready to take on the world.

What’s one small opportunity you could offer today to nurture independence in your setting?