Teaching grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs) systematicallly in groups, as seen above, and providing texts that include only those GPCs they are learning at that point in time is an important starting point.

This is the DfE recommendation for SSP publishers:
 

Note 6

The texts and books children are asked to read independently should be fully decodable for them at every stage of the programme. This means they must be composed almost entirely of words made up of GPCs that a child has learned up to that point. The only exceptions should be a small number of common-exception words (see note 2) that the child has learned as part of the programme up to that point. In the early stages, even these should be kept to a minimum. Practising with such decodable texts will help to make sure children experience success and learn to rely on phonic strategies.
 

However, for at least 1 in 5 children, this is not enough. Simply providing words with restricted GPCs does not break the process down sufficiently for every child to experience success.
 

These children often have weaker phonemic awareness and need more support to connect speech, print, and meaning in the moment of reading. They may also have SLCN, be learning English as an additional language, or have an accent that differs from the Phonics Pronunciation Code.

The Cognitive Load Problem

When reading, children must:

• Work out which letters form graphemes

• Recall the associated phonemes

• Hold those sounds in working memory

• Blend them to identify the word

• Know what the words meaning

For some learners, especially in Reception and KS1, this creates a high cognitive load.

If any part of this process is insecure, decoding becomes slow, effortful, and often unsuccessful.

Encoding is even harder, as children must segment the word into phonemes, hold those sounds in working memory, and select the correct graphemes to represent them. Encoding places an even greater cognitive load on the child.
 

How We Reduce Cognitive Load

We do not expect children to work all of this out internally. 

Instead, we make the key information visible:

• Which letters are the graphemes in each word

• The associated phonemes, shown using Phonemies for the Phonics Pronunciation Code. This means accents can be addressed, and children can identify the sound they use and see the word using their Personal Pronunciation Code

• An image (visual prompt) linked to meaning, for example, an image of an ant.
  
  We also recommend using a font such as Sassoon Infant, as letter shape matters. When letters look like the forms children will use in writing, cognitive load is reduced. Letter formation will be addressed separately.

What This Changes

This means children do not have to:

• Guess where graphemes begin and end

• Hold uncertain sounds in working memory

• Try multiple pronunciations to find a match

Instead, they can:

• See the grapheme structure immediately

• Access the correct phonemes in the moment

• Link the word directly to meaning

Why This Matters

For at least 1 in 5, this support:

• Reduces cognitive load

• Strengthens the connection between speech, print, and meaning

• Allows them to decode and encode with greater accuracy and confidence

• Feel empowered

It ensures that at risk children understand how words work, and can start bonding speech sounds, spelling (graphemes) and meaning.

Summary

Teaching GPCs and providing decodable texts is not enough for all learners.

Making graphemes, phonemes, and meaning visible gives children the support they need to read successfully from the start.

The Upstream Team will show you how to screen for risk and adapt your systematic synthetic phonics programme to meet the needs of these children, rather than giving them the same activities and waiting for them to fail.