The 7E stages of learning with the Magic Alpha-belt

Introducing the 7E Learning Stages of the Magic Alpha-belt

The Magic Alpha-belt phonics programme is a structured, child-friendly approach to early reading, built around seven progressive stages of learning—known as the 7E framework. It is designed to support children aged 3 to 6+, guiding them from early sound awareness to confident, independent reading. The programme is closely aligned with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and complements Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) programmes used in UK primary schools.

Each stage of the 7E journey is supported by a rich collection of multisensory resources and activities designed for children, parents, nursery  and primary school teachers. The programme recognises that children learn in different ways and at different paces, and so provides the flexibility for each child to move through the stages when they are ready, supported by clear instruction, engaging practice, and hands-on learning tools.

Key features of the programme include:

  • Alpha-pics: specially designed illustrations that hide letter shapes in familiar objects, helping children visually connect letters with sounds. Over 300 alpha-pics are used across the programme, including combinations for two and three letter phonemes such as: ar, ai, ear, and ure.

  • Adventure storybooks: a series of engaging  stories following Danny, his sister Lottie, and their friends as they go on everyday adventures with their grandparents. Each story includes 30–35 hidden alpha-pics that children are encouraged to spot, promoting visual recognition of ‘letter sounds’ as the stories unfold. 

  • Phonicano models: downloadable, interactive audio tools that work like a piano keyboard. Children can press alpha-keys and bars to hear the 26 single “letter sounds” and the 44 phonemes, supporting blending, segmenting, encoding and decoding words. The models range from basic (26 letters) to advanced (240+ alternative spellings), supporting progression through every stage of phonics learning.

  • Activity books, flash cards, dot-to-dot sheets, posters, and instructional guides: all designed to reinforce phonics through play, practice, and repetition.

Every 7E stage contains a structured instruction and guidance section to introduce the phonics content, followed by an activity section for practice and consolidation. Children are encouraged to move forward only once they feel confident, ensuring strong, secure phonics foundations before progressing.

While each stage is linked to an age range, these are offered as a flexible guide. The Magic Alpha-belt supports individual progress, making it suitable for mixed abilities and learning needs in both home and school settings.

The 7E stages provide a clear, motivating journey for children and a practical, supportive framework for adults. Through immersive stories, sensory tools, and progressive skill-building, the Magic Alpha-belt makes learning to read a truly magical experience.

Explore+3

Engage+3

Explore & Engage

Age Group Guide: 3+ (Nursery)

Learning Outcomes:

  • Recognise, identify, and recall the shape and sounds of the 26 single letter sounds.

  • Develop fine motor skills and confidence in drawing straight lines, curves, circles, and other shapes, as preparation for writing lower case and capital letters.

Application of Alpha-pics:

  • Used to introduce and recall the shape and sounds of the 26 single letters (lower case and capitals).

Use of the Magic Alpha-belt Adventure Story Books:

  • Read by parents and teachers to encourage children to find letter sounds hidden in the pictures.

Supporting EYFS and ELGs:

  • Promotes communication and language, literacy, mathematics, physical development (fine motor skills), creative and artistic expression, understanding the world, and personal, social and emotional development.

Resources and Products:

  • Flashcards (lower case and capitals), Alpha-pic matching activities, posters with the 26 Alpha-pics, general activity books including join the dots, complete the letter shapes, and colour in Alpha-pics from the adventure stories.

Enhance+4

Evolve+4

Enhance & Evolve

Age Group Guide: 4+ (Final Year Nursery and Reception)

Learning Outcomes:

  • Confidently write the 26 single letter sounds.

  • Blend and segment simple CVC, CCVC, and CVCC words.

  • Identify phonic sounds: x (ks), qu (kw), and double letter sounds (ee, oo, bb, dd, etc.).

Application of Alpha-pics:

  • Used to identify individual sounds and build CVC and CCVC words.

Use of the Magic Alpha-belt Adventure Story Books:

  • Read by parents and teachers to encourage children to find letter sounds in pictures and sound out some of the CVC and CCVC words in the stories.

Supporting EYFS and ELGs:

  • Promotes communication and language, literacy, mathematics, physical development (fine motor skills), creative and artistic expression, understanding the world, and personal, social and emotional development.

Supporting Validated Systematic Synthetic Programmes:

  • Introduces single letter sounds in the following sequence:
    s a t p, i n m d, g o c k, ck e u r, h b f l, j v w z, q x y

  • Introduces double letter sounds.

Phonicano Model:

  • ‘Mini’ Audio Phonicano models that introduce the 26 single ‘letter sounds’ with visual representation.

Resources and Products:

  • Flashcards for building simple CVC and CCVC words, instruction and activity booklets introducing single and double letter sounds.

Expand+5

Expand

Age Group Guide: 5+ (Reception and Year 1 Primary)

Learning Outcomes:

  • Master the 44 phonic sounds and match them to their one-to-one phoneme/grapheme correspondences.

  • Build words such as: sh-ar-k, t-r-ee, sh-ow-er, ow-l, t-r-ai-n, k-ar-t, c-ar, ch-air, ear.

Application of Alpha-pics:

  • Phoneme Alpha-pics used to represent and recall the 44 phonic sounds and their letter combinations.

Use of the Magic Alpha-belt Adventure Story Books:

  • Read by parents and teachers to find letter sounds, CVC/CCVC words, and one-to-one grapheme words in the stories.

Supporting Validated Systematic Synthetic Programmes:

  • Focus on securing the 44 phonic sounds before moving on to alternative spellings.

Phonicano Model:

  • Audio Phonicano used for practising blending and segmenting one-to-one grapheme/phoneme words.

Resources and Products:

  • Flashcards of the 44 Alpha-pic phonemes, word-building flashcards, posters, instruction and activity booklets.

Empower +5

Empower

Age Group Guide: 5+ (Year 1 and Year 2 Primary)

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understand that one phoneme can have multiple spellings, and one spelling can represent more than one phoneme.

  • Use split digraphs.

  • Blend, segment, encode and decode words using 160 of the most popular alternative spellings for the 44 phonemes.

Application of Alpha-pics:

  • Used in a fun, engaging way to introduce words with 160 alternative spellings.

Use of the Magic Alpha-belt Adventure Story Books:

  • Children who have mastered the 160 grapheme/phoneme correspondences should be able to read many words in the stories with adult guidance.

Supporting Validated Systematic Synthetic Programmes:

  • Interactive, multisensory resources to support learning 160 alternative spellings and support reading of decodable books.

Phonicano Model:

  • Audio ‘Super’ Phonicano and Phonicano Wheel displaying over 160 alternative spellings.

Resources and Products:

  • Flashcards for building words with 160 alternative spellings, instruction and activity booklets.

Enlighten +6

Enlighten

Age Group Guide: 6+ (Year 2 Primary)

Learning Outcomes:

  • Progress from reading decodable books to becoming a free reader.

  • Three formats provided to suit different learning styles and teaching methods.

Use of the Magic Alpha-belt Adventure Story Books:

  • Children can read the adventure stories independently with minimal support from adults.

Supporting Validated Systematic Synthetic Programmes:

  • Extension stage designed to bridge from phonics programmes to independent reading.

Phonicano Model:

  • Audio ‘Mega’ Phonicano displays over 240 alternative spellings, supporting decoding of 95–98% of the most frequently used words in English.

Resources and Products:

  • ‘Phonics by Stories’ series (short picture books, bite-sized stories, rhyming poems).

  • Flashcards for matching sounds and spellings to over 800 featured words in the series.