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Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

  • Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
  • In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
  • As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

  • The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
  • The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.

Reception Phonics worksheets

Short vowel sounds page

Short vowel sounds worksheet

A short vowel sound is pronounced for a shorter time than a long vowel sound. For instance, in the word fat, the vowel 'a' is short, but in fate, it's long. Use this worksheet to practise short vowel sounds and consolidate your child's phonics learning at home.
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Long vowel a and e page

Long vowel sounds 'a' and 'e'

A long vowel is pronounced for a longer time than a short vowel sound. In the word mat, the vowel 'a' is short, but in mate, it's long. Use this worksheet to practise the long vowel sounds 'a' and 'e' and consolidate your child's phonics learning at home.
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The long vowel 'u' page

The long vowel 'u'

Long vowels are vowel sounds that are pronounced for a longer time than short vowels. In the word cut, the vowel 'i' is short, but in cute, it's long. Use this worksheet to practice the long vowel sounds 'u' and consolidate your child's phonics learning at home.
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Long vowels i and o page

Long vowel sounds 'i' and 'o'

Long vowels are vowel sounds that are pronounced for a longer time than short vowels. They can change the meaning of words. In the word bit, the vowel 'i' is short, but in bite, it's a long vowel sound. Use this worksheet to practice long vowel sounds 'i' and 'o' and consolidate your child's phonics learning at home.
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TheSchoolRun Phonics taster pack

Phonics taster pack

Introduce your child to phonics sounds with TheSchoolRun's FREE Phonics taster pack. You'll find phonics sounds mats and five games to play with Reception and Year 1 children, all designed to boost their confidence with phonics learning and help them practise their skills the fun way.
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Reading comprehension: the /ow/ sound (Phase 3 phonics)

Reading comprehension: the /ow/ sound (Phase 3 phonics)

Practise the /ow/ sound with this reading comprehension – read the passage with your child and then ask them the questions that follow.
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Reading comprehension: the /oo/ and /oo/ sound (Phase 3 phonics)

Reading comprehension: the /oo/ and /oo/ sound (Phase 3 phonics)

Practise spotting words with ‘oo’ in them with this reading comprehension. Read the passage with your child and then ask them the questions that follow.
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Reading comprehension: the /oi/ sound (Phase 3 phonics)

Reading comprehension: the /oi/ sound (Phase 3 phonics)

Practise the /oi/ sound with this reading comprehension – read the passage with your child and then ask them the questions that follow.
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Reading comprehension: the /ai/ sound (Phase 3 phonics)

Reading comprehension: the /ai/ sound (Phase 3 phonics)

Practise the /ai/ sound with this reading comprehension – read the passage with your child and then ask them the questions that follow.
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Missing letter or sound challenge

Missing letter or sound challenge

Using letter arrow cards, can you work out which sound could go in the blank arrow in these words?
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Make words using arrow cards

Make words using arrow cards

Can you spell these words? Using a set of letter arrow cards, write the word that represents each picture. How many did you get right?
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Letter arrow cards

Letter arrow cards

Free letter arrow cards created by an experienced educator to help children practise putting sounds together and forming some words.
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Letter arrow cards rhyming words

Letter arrow cards rhyming words

Fancy a game of Rhyming Words? Take it in turns to choose a card, then see how many rhyming words you can make. The player with the most rhyming words wins that round.
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Consonant cluster words race

Consonant cluster words race

Fancy a game of Consonant Clusters? Race to make a word using letter arrow cards for each cluster on your mat. The first player to complete the task wins.
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Revise /oo/, /ar/, /or/ and /ur/ sounds (Phase 3 phonics)

Revise /oo/, /ar/, /or/ and /ur/ sounds (Phase 3 phonics)

This simple game is designed to help support and reinforce the learning of the Phase 3 phonics sounds /oo/, /ar/, /or/ and /ur/.
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Revise /ai/, /ee/, /igh/ and /oa/ sounds (Phase 3 phonics)

Revise /ai/, /ee/, /igh/ and /oa/ sounds (Phase 3 phonics)

This simple game is designed to help support and reinforce the learning of the Phase 3 phonics sounds /ai/, /ee/, /igh/ and /oa/.
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Phase 3 phonics missing tricky words

Phase 3 phonics missing tricky words

Help your child practise reading and writing the tricky words they've learned in Phase 3 phonics with this Reception activity. Tricky or exception words are words in which the English spelling code works in an unusual or uncommon way.
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Phase 2 phonics missing tricky words

Phase 2 phonics missing tricky words

Help your child practise reading and writing Phase 2 tricky or exception words (words in which the English spelling code works in an unusual or uncommon way) with this Reception activity.
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Listen to final sounds

Listen to final sounds

Many children are able to hear the initial sounds (the first sounds) in words or in a word but might struggle to hear the final sounds. This game is designed to help them practise both of these skills and covers a mixture of Phase 2 and Phase 3 phonics sounds.
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Finding rhyming words

Finding rhyming words

Help your child listen to sounds and identify rhyming words with this Reception activity sheet.
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