At Hope Community School Sidcup, we use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to plan and provide daily engaging phonics lessons. In phonics, we teach children that the letters of the alphabet represent a different sound, that these can be used in a variety of combinations and are put together to make words. The children learn to recognise all of the different sounds and combinations that they might see when they are reading or writing. Our phonics teaching starts as soon as the children join the EYFS class full time and follows a very specific sequence that allows our children to build on their previous phonic knowledge and master specific phonic strategies as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words that they might discover.  We also model these strategies in shared reading and writing both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. At Hope Community School Sidcup, we have a strong focus on the development of language skills for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects. 

How we teach phonics and Early Reading (Early Years and KS1)

• In Reception and Y1, children follow the progression within Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme. Phonics is taught daily and there is a review session on a Friday.
• Phonics starts in Reception as soon as the children are in full time, to ensure the children make a strong start.
• By the end of Reception, children will have been taught up to the end of phase 4.
• By the end of Year 1, children will have been taught up to the end of phase 5.
• Children in Year 2 recap any gaps in their phonics knowledge in the autumn term.
• Reception lessons start at 15 minutes, with daily additional oral blending – increasing quickly to 25 minutes.
• Y1 lessons are 25 minutes long.