Trigraphs
Read and spell words containing trigraphs — three-letter graphemes representing a single sound (igh, air, ear, are)
Suggested ages 5–6
Learning journey
Your child is building the foundation for reading — learning how letters and sounds work together, recognizing common words by sight, and developing the skills to sound out new words independently.
Evidence of understanding
- Read words with trigraphs (e.g. 'night', 'chair', 'near')
- Distinguish between different sounds for 'ear' (e.g. 'hear' vs 'bear')
- Identify the single phoneme represented by three letters in a word
Assessment prompt
Can Trigraphs recognise three-letter combinations like 'igh' in 'night', 'air' in 'chair', and 'ear' in 'hear' — knowing that all three letters together make just one sound?
Standards alignment
Trigraph: igh
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 1
Trigraph: air
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 1
Trigraph: ear
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 1
Trigraph: ear (/ɛə/)
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 1
Trigraph: are (/ɛə/)
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 1