Self Assessment Form

DfE Validation of Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) Programmes, 2021

Validation will indicate that a programme has been self-assessed by its publisher and assessed by a
small panel with relevant expertise, and that both consider it to meet all of the most recent
Department for Education (DfE) criteria for an effective SSP programme (as listed below).

Validation will be of complete SSP programmes only, not of partial programmes, of supplementary
materials or of sets of readers that are not integral to a particular programme. A complete
programme is one that provides all that is essential to teach SSP to children in Reception and Key
Stage 1 years of mainstream primary schools, up to or beyond the standards expected by the
National Curriculum, and provides sufficient support for them to become fluent readers. Although it
may cover other aspects of reading, writing and spelling, or extend beyond KS1, these elements will
not be included in the assessment or validation.

Publishers of systematic, synthetic phonics teaching programmes are invited to evaluate their
materials against each of the essential core criteria and complete this self-assessment form. The
self-assessment should demonstrate how each of the criteria is met. Please also refer to the
explanatory notes where applicable.

Publishers are asked to provide information that is succinct and focused on the criteria in a format
that is easy to read and understand. Please note that there is a word limit for the text boxes
provided within the template.

You will need to submit your self-assessment form alongside details of how the validation panel can
review your products electronically. We have also requested a one-page overview of your
programme that could be shared with schools. Please e-mail these to:
phonics.validation@education.gov.uk. Any queries on the process may also be sent to this
address.

Please note:

The panel reserve the right to request more information on any aspect of the criteria, your answers
and any materials that you describe and have not submitted electronically. They also reserve the
right to contact the nominated schools whose details you provide so please ensure they are content
with this before including them.

Please only submit this form if you are confident that your programme meets these criteria.

Published: April 2021

 Please complete as appropriate

The programme should: Met Evidence

provided
(Y/N) (brief
details)

constitute a complete SSP programme, as defined above; providing

fidelity to its teaching framework for the duration of the programme
(see note 1).

present systematic, synthetic phonic work as the prime approach to

decoding print (see note 1).

enable children to start learning phonic knowledge and skills early

in Reception and provide a structured route for most children to
meet or exceed the expected standard in the Year One (Y1)
Phonics Screening Check and all National Curriculum expectations
for word reading through decoding by the end of Key Stage 1.

be designed for daily teaching sessions and teach the main

grapheme-phoneme correspondences of English (the alphabetic
principle) in a clearly defined, incremental sequence.

begin by introducing a defined group of grapheme-phoneme

correspondences that enable children to read and spell many
words early on.

progress from simple to more complex phonic knowledge and

skills, cumulatively covering all the major grapheme-phoneme
correspondences in English.

teach children to read printed words by identifying and blending

(synthesising) individual phonemes, from left to right all through the
word.

teach children to apply the skill of segmenting spoken words into

their constituent phonemes for spelling and that this is the reverse
of blending phonemes to read words.

provide opportunity for children to practise and apply known

phoneme-grapheme correspondences for spelling through dictation
of sounds, words and sentences.

ensure that children are taught to decode and spell common

exception words (sometimes called ‘tricky’ words), appropriate to
their level of progress in the programme (see note 2).

2
 provide resources that support the teaching of lower-case and
capital letters correctly, with clear start and finish points. The
programme should move children on by teaching them to write
words made up of learned GPCs, followed by simple sentences
composed from such words as well as any common exception
words (‘tricky words’) learned (see note 3).

be built around direct teaching sessions, with extensive teacher-

child interaction and involve a multi-sensory approach. The
programme should include guidance on how direct teaching
sessions can be adapted for online delivery (live or recorded) (see
notes 4 and 5).

provide resources to enable teachers to deliver the programme

effectively including sufficient decodable reading material (see
notes 6 and 7) to ensure that, as children move through the early
stages of acquiring phonic knowledge and skills, they can practise
by reading texts closely matched to their level of phonic attainment,
that do not require them to use alternative strategies to read
unknown words (important, see note 7).

include guidance and resources to ensure children practise and

apply the core phonics they have been taught1 (see note 8).

enable children's progress to be assessed and highlight the ways in

which the programme meets the needs of those who are at risk of
falling behind, including the lowest attaining 20% of children (see
note 9).

provide full guidance for teachers to support the effective delivery

of the programme and appropriate, programme-specific training
either directly, through appointed agents or remotely; with
assurances that there is sufficient capacity to do so and that those
delivering this training will have appropriately high levels of
expertise and relevant experience (see note 10).

Section 1 – Personal details

Name
1 This should include providing examples of adapted teaching approaches and materials that accommodate the learning
needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities where required. This could include, for example,
editable large dice, small magnetic whiteboards with magnetic letters as well as phoneme frames, foam magnetic
letters and flash cards.
3
 Role
Contact Number
Contact email address
Address

Postcode

Section 2 – Evidence
Please do not use any more than 300 words per criteria. We are aware that some criteria may
require less.

Please explain in more detail how your programme meets the following core criteria. Please refer
back to the criteria and explanatory notes to support you to write your answers.

The programme should:

constitute a complete SSP programme, as defined above; providing fidelity to its teaching
framework for the duration of the programme.

Evidence required: Electronic link to programme manual or a web link to relevant page on website if
available

present systematic, synthetic phonic work as the prime approach to decoding print.

4
enable children to start learning phonic knowledge and skills early in Reception and provide
a structured route for most children to meet or exceed the expected standard in the Year One
(Y1) Phonics Screening Check and all National Curriculum expectations for word reading
through decoding by the end of Key Stage 1.

Evidence required: Electronic link to sequence of progressions identifying GPCs and common
exception words to be taught.

be designed for daily teaching sessions and teach the main grapheme-phoneme
correspondences of English (the alphabetic principle) in a clearly defined, incremental
sequence.

5
Evidence required: Electronic link to a sample ‘day’ of plans and activities a child would experience
(one from each year group – Reception to Year 2).

begin by introducing a defined group of grapheme-phoneme correspondences that enable

children to read and spell many words early on.

progress from simple to more complex phonic knowledge and skills, cumulatively covering
all the major grapheme-phoneme correspondences in English.

6
teach children to read printed words by identifying and blending (synthesising) individual
phonemes, from left to right all through the word.

teach children to apply the skill of segmenting spoken words into their constituent
phonemes for spelling and that this is the reverse of blending phonemes to read words.

7
provide opportunity for children to practise and apply known phoneme-grapheme
correspondences for spelling through dictation of sounds, words and sentences.

ensure that children are taught to decode and spell common exception words (sometimes
called ‘tricky’ words), appropriate to their level of progress in the programme.

8
provide resources that support the teaching of lower-case and capital letters correctly, with
clear start and finish points. The programme should move children on by teaching them to
write words made up of learned GPCs, followed by simple sentences composed from such
words as well as any common exception words (‘tricky words’) learned.

be built around direct teaching sessions, with extensive teacher-child interaction and involve
a multi-sensory approach. The programme should include guidance on how direct teaching
sessions can be adapted for online delivery (live or recorded).
Evidence required: Electronic samples of daily lesson plans demonstrating progression at each
stage of programme or a web link to relevant page on website if available.

9
provide resources to enable teachers to deliver the programme effectively including
sufficient decodable reading material to ensure that, as children move through the early
stages of acquiring phonic knowledge and skills, they can practise by reading texts closely
matched to their level of phonic attainment, that do not require them to use alternative
strategies to read unknown words.
Evidence required:
a) Electronic samples of decodable reading materials demonstrating progression through each
stage of the programme. Please clearly identify which phase of the programme each sample relates
to. (Note, these may be published by a different publisher.)
10
b) Electronic samples of teaching resources (including flash cards, friezes, word cards and wall
posters) with an explanation of how each of these resources should be used.

include guidance and resources to ensure children practise and apply the core phonics they
have been taught2.

2 This should include providing examples of adapted teaching approaches and materials that accommodate the learning
needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities where required. This could include, for example,
editable large dice, small magnetic whiteboards with magnetic letters as well as phoneme frames, foam magnetic
letters and flash cards.
11
enable children's progress to be assessed and highlight the ways in which the programme
meets the needs of those who are at risk of falling behind, including the lowest attaining 20%
of children.
Evidence required:
a) Electronic schedule of assessment.
b) Guidance on how ongoing and formal assessment is implemented.

provide full guidance for teachers to support the effective delivery of the programme and
appropriate, programme-specific training either directly, through appointed agents or
remotely; with assurances that there is sufficient capacity to do so and that those delivering
this training will have appropriately high levels of expertise and relevant experience
Evidence required: Electronic list of training options/packages available to both leaders and
teachers that demonstrates overall capacity to deliver the training. The list must include the
following information: an overview of the topics covered in each package, the cost of each package,
the number of days’ training included in each package, an indication of whether it is designed for
whole school or individual training, how the training will be delivered to and accessed by schools,
for example online or in person, and any additional support available to schools (such as
development days). Please link to a relevant webpage if this information is publicly available.
12
SSP Programme in action

 Please provide examples of three schools where the programme is currently being
delivered and where training for the programme has taken place.

 Please provide a named contact at each school who would be happy to speak to a panel
member about the impact of the programme and the effectiveness of the training that staff
have received. Please note, impact should be demonstrated in a range of schools, including
those with high levels of disadvantage.

 Please confirm the schools are happy to be contacted before submitting the self-assessment
form.

13
 Schools where the programme is being delivered and where training for the programme has
taken place

School 1:

School 2:

School 3:

Section 3 – Signature
By signing this page, I confirm that all the information I have submitted is correct and that I am
happy to be contacted should additional information be required.

Signature

Date (DD/MM/YYYY)

14
The SSP Programme Summary Overview below does not form part of the assessment but is
designed for use by schools. Please submit this as part of your application and confirm that you
agree this content can be shared with schools. Some of the boxes below include examples of
content you may wish to include.

SSP Programme Summary Overview

Name of programme, contact and website detail

Key features of the SSP programme (including an outline of resources)

Progressions
Guidance for teachers
Resources including decodable books, cards, friezes, word cards etc.
Availability of an online subscription
Assessment schedule
Evaluation – has the impact of the programme been formally reviewed?

Training offer (or links to this information on the provider’s website)

In person
Remote offer
Costs for each package
Number of days included in each package
Any additional support (for example development days)
Whole school training
Individual training

15
Package options (or links to this information on the provider’s website)

Further detail

16
© Crown copyright 2021

Published: April 2021