Download Letters and Sounds HFW Lists (Free)

Alongside the teaching of phonics, Letters and Sounds also introduced:
 

• a First 100 High-Frequency Words list

• and a Next 200 High-Frequency Words list

These lists were designed to include words that children are likely to encounter frequently in early reading and writing.

According to the original guidance:

• learning 13 of the most common words gives children access to approximately 25% of words in typical text

• learning the first 100 gives access to approximately 50% of many texts

The lists include:

• fully decodable words

• partially decodable words

• and words containing grapheme–phoneme correspondences children may not yet have been taught

The words are traditionally presented:

• in columns

• read from top to bottom

• then across to the next column

Many later phonics programmes in England and Australia adapted, expanded or replaced these original lists. As a result:

• different programmes now teach different high-frequency words

• in different orders

• using different terminology and teaching approaches

Terms now used across programmes include:

• tricky words

• red words

• common exception words

• harder to read and spell words (HRS)

• Duck Level 

and camera words.

 

The 2021 Letters and Sounds DfE guidance for SSP developers reframed “tricky words” as “common exception words” (CEWs). It states that these are words which are “decodable in themselves” but cannot yet be decoded using only the grapheme–phoneme correspondences children have been taught up to that point.
 

The guidance explicitly states that:
many words “cease to be tricky” later as more GPCs are learned

common exception words should be “kept to a minimum in the early stages”

and children “must always be taught how to decode the ‘tricky word’ phonically before they are asked to read it independently.”

The guidance also says:

“learning them adds to young learners’ cognitive load and also disrupts the systematic approach of SSP.”

The revised progression introduces common exception words gradually across Reception and Year 1.

Reception Autumn 1:
is, I, the

Reception Autumn 2:
put, pull, full, as, and, his, her, has, no, go, to, into, she, push, he, of, we, me, be

Reception Spring 1:
was, you, they, my, by, all, are, sure, pure

Reception Summer 1:
said, so, have, like, some, come, love, do, were, here, little, says, there, when, what, one, out, today

Year 1 Autumn 2:
their, people, oh, your, Mr, Mrs, Ms, ask, could, would, should, our, house, mouse, water, want

Year 1 Spring 1:
any, many, again, who, whole, where, two, school, call, different, thought, through, friend, work

Year 1 Spring 2:
once, laugh, because, eye

Year 1 Summer 2:
busy, beautiful, pretty, hour, move, improve, parent, shoe

The guidance also allows teachers some flexibility:

the order of CEWs “can be treated more flexibly” to match decodable books

teachers may add a “small number” of additional words if children need them for immediate use

but these should be “kept to an absolute minimum” in early stages.

 

This is just one reason Emma Hartnell-Baker did not get the Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach validated, even though it covers all synthetic phonics programme content. She disagrees with this guidance, because the code can be shown. 
 

In order for children to be able to read and spell the most commonly used words, teachers using the Speech Sound Pics (SSP) approach pedagogy teach the  Duck Level words separately, in 7 levels. Children work through over 400 HFWs at their own pace, rather than waiting for them to appear in a fixed programme sequence. Because the code is shown, children can secure large numbers of words quickly, with over 90% able to recognise and spell over 400 words before the end of Reception.
 

Children:

• hear the speech sounds

• see the graphemes

• connect them to meaning

• and use the words in meaningful context

GPCs are learned in the same way:

• at the child’s own pace

• with continuous review and application

• supported by technology that makes the code visible

The Speech Sound Pics (SSP) approach is based on the understanding that orthographic learning develops through repeated bonding of speech, print and meaning, not through memorising whole words as visual shapes, and that restricting learning to set lesson times stunts orthographic learning and reduces autonomy and instrinsic motivation.
 

Help us show how effective this approach can be by joining The Speedie Sight Word Project at home or school with a TA.

The following words are also available mapped, showing which letters are graphemes and their sound value, with individual videos for each word so that you can create your own playlist and teach them in any order you like. We are also showing the order various phonics programmes use for example Phonics Programs in England and Phonics Programs in Australia.