Phase 3 Introduction

Take a look at our free, printable Phase 3 resources, Phase 3 games, or Phase 3 videos.

By the time they reach Phase 3 of the Letters and Sounds programme, children will already be able to blend and segment words containing the 19 letters taught in Phase 2.

Over the 12 weeks which Phase 3 is expected to last, 25 new graphemes are introduced one at a time.

• Set 6: j, v, w, x
• Set 7: y, z, zz, qu
• Consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng
• Vowel digraphs: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er

During Phase 3, children will also learn the letter names using an alphabet song, although they will continue to use the sounds when decoding words.

Tricky words

During Phase 3, the following tricky words (which can’t yet be decoded) are introduced:

• he
• she
• we
• me
• be
• was
• you
• they
• all
• are
• my
• her