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Why did Sladefield Infant School choose FFT Success for All Phonics?
As a school, Sladefield Infant School has always valued phonics as the key to a successful start to every child’s learning journey. For several years, they taught phonics using Letters and Sounds. As a school constantly looking to improve its practice, they felt the need to make changes.
Firstly, they wanted to better match their decodable readers to the phonics sessions, as many of their coloured level books varied widely in difficulty within each band. Secondly, they wanted to ensure fidelity to their phonics programme through high-quality planning and standardised resources, backed up with high-quality training.
SLT invested time into researching several SSP programmes: attending webinars, reading up-to-date research around phonics and requesting sample plans and decodable readers.
FFT Success for All Phonics immediately stood out to them from FFT’s first information webinar. It offered excellent training modules that staff could access to "hit the ground running", resources to reduce teacher workload, and decodable readers closely matched to the phonics teaching. These readers were flexible in format — available for purchase, photocopying, or online reading via the Parent Portal.
Lisa Banks
EYFS Lead & English Lead
We have driven the delivery of phonics through FFT Success for All Phonics since its introduction in Reception in January 2022.
Our current Reception and Year 1 staff are extremely confident and highly competent in delivering the phonics sessions as directed by the programme. This has included using the Reading Assessment Programme provided to identify gaps in learning.
During our recent Ofsted inspection, the inspectors were very complimentary about how well we had embedded the system in a relatively short period of time and how well the children were accessing the provision.
Implementing the programme
Sladefield introduced FFT Success for All Phonics from the first day of Spring 1 in January 2022, beginning with a whole-staff training day to provide every member of the teaching team with a clear and consistent starting point. Since then, the school has regularly used the training videos available on FFT’s Portal to support and strengthen classroom practice.
Phonics has remained a key priority in Sladefield’s School Development Plan (SDP), with a strong focus on continuous staff training – supported by the wide range of CPD available from FFT. All new staff receive training, and the school also ensures that parent volunteers and lunchtime supervisors are included, helping to foster a whole-school culture around phonics.
Parent workshops have been delivered, and families are kept well informed to support learning beyond the classroom.
When Ofsted visited Sladefield in January 2023, it recognised the high priority the school placed on developing and teaching phonics. Inspectors noted that phonics was delivered effectively and consistently across year groups, with strong fidelity to the programme.
Year 2 colleagues have shown great enthusiasm for Spelling with the Jungle Club and Routes to Reading, commenting that the planning and resources have reinvigorated their approach to teaching.
90%
Year 2 pass rate
Reading progress made
Since introducing FFT Success for All Phonics, Sladefield’s end-of-year Literacy results in EYFS have been significantly above national averages. In July 2023, outcomes increased by 2% compared to 2022.
Despite very low starting points at baseline, children with EAL achieved particularly well. Historically, the school’s data showed a significant gap in performance between genders. Since implementing FFT Success for All Phonics, this gap has noticeably decreased.
In Year 1, since starting to use FFT Success for All Phonics, the school’s Phonics Screening Check results have at least been in line with national levels.
Phonics Screening Check results 2024/25
Year 1: 81%
Year 2: 90%
Spotlight on pupil progress
Pupil A joined Reception at Sladefield Infant School in September 2021. Pupil A has a SEND diagnosis for Autism and entered school as an EAL learner working below expected levels.
From the outset, Pupil A showed great enjoyment in engaging with the characters in the phonics stories, and began to make good progress. The visual elements of the programme were particularly effective in helping him focus on his learning. When Phase 3 digraphs and trigraphs were introduced, the weekly pace of delivery supported consolidation of prior learning and allowed for targeted interventions to help him catch up with his peers.
Although Pupil A did not achieve the Early Learning Goal (ELG) for Literacy, his progress was exceptional and the attainment gap was beginning to close. He was able to read and write CVC words and simple sentences, and his love for the decodable readers was clearly evident.
Upon entering Year 1, Pupil A continued to thrive. His teacher noted that the structured lessons and visual resources helped him stay focused. She described him as a quirky character with a strong love of learning, a very good memory, and a tendency to be easily distracted — yet the stories and characters helped maintain his engagement. The Reading Assessments and Phonics Screening Check resources were crucial in identifying gaps in learning, enabling additional support in phonics and reading. Pupil A comfortably passed the Phonics Screening Check at the end of Year 1.
In his first term of Year 2, Pupil A has continued to make strong progress. His class teacher observed that he reads fluently and with clear enjoyment. He is keeping up with his peers and demonstrates creativity in his story retelling, often adding his own imaginative twists — an approach that is positively impacting his writing composition. His teacher reported that he is highly engaged with Spelling with the Jungle Club and enjoys the interactive nature of the sessions. His independence in completing work in the Pupil Workbook has improved, thanks to the clear lesson structure. He also thoroughly enjoys the Routes to Reading books and speaks about them with enthusiasm and detail.
Extreme Earth was the best book ever! It’s all about the hottest, coldest and rainiest places. It was so, so good. I read it 100 times!
Pupil A
The engaging and visual but clear structure of FFT Success for All Phonics has made Pupil A a much more fluent and confident reader. This fluency, alongside his clear enjoyment, has allowed him to focus his energy on developing his understanding of what he has read.
School SENDco
Why is Sladefield Infant School pleased with FFT Success for All Phonics?
Lisa Banks, EYFS Lead & English Lead, highlights the benefits seen since using the phonics programme:
First and foremost, FFT Success for All Phonics provides a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics and reading that works for our school community.
The Reading Assessment Programme is a valuable resource that enables greater emphasis on ‘keeping up’, but also supports accelerated ‘catch-up’ when needed.
Since introducing FFT Success for All Phonics to our parents, we have seen a dramatic improvement in parent engagement and reading at home. This increased involvement is regularly communicated to us and evidenced through parent questionnaires and surveys, highlighting the positive impact of the programme on home learning.