Phonics at Sacred Heart

What is Phonics?

Phonics is a proven approach to teaching children how to read and write. It helps children to:

• Recognise the sounds made by individual letters.
• Identify the sounds made by groups of letters, such as sh, ch and oa.
• Blend sounds together to read words.
• Segment sounds to spell words.

By developing these skills, children become confident readers who can decode unfamiliar words independently.

Why is Phonics Important?

Research shows that systematic phonics is one of the most effective ways to teach children to read. It provides a strong foundation for reading fluency, accuracy and comprehension, enabling children to become confident, lifelong readers.

How We Teach Phonics at Sacred Heart

At Sacred Heart, we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme, a Department for Education-approved phonics scheme.

Phonics is taught daily through engaging and structured lessons that build children’s knowledge and skills step by step.

Reception and Year 1

• Daily phonics lessons are taught for up to 30 minutes.
• Teaching begins in the second week of Reception.
• Children learn new sounds, practise blending for reading and segmenting for spelling.
• Weekly review sessions help children consolidate and apply their learning.

By the end of Reception, children are expected to read and spell words using Phase 2, 3 and 4 phonics with increasing fluency.

In Year 1, children review earlier learning before progressing to Phase 5 phonics, developing greater accuracy and confidence in reading and spelling.

Supporting Every Child

We are committed to ensuring every child becomes a successful reader.

Children who need additional support receive daily Keep-up sessions, delivered by trained staff. These sessions follow the same teaching approach as whole-class lessons but provide extra practice and repetition in smaller steps.

For children in Year 2 and Key Stage 2 who require further support, we provide Rapid Catch-up interventions to quickly address gaps in phonics knowledge and build reading fluency.

Reading Practice Sessions

Children apply their phonics knowledge through small-group reading practice sessions three times each week.

These sessions focus on:

• Decoding – reading words accurately.
• Prosody – reading with expression and understanding.
• Comprehension – understanding and discussing the text.

All reading books are carefully matched to each child’s secure phonic knowledge to ensure success and enjoyment.

Reading at Home

Reading at home plays an important role in developing confident readers.

Children take home:

• A fully decodable reading book that matches their current phonics knowledge.
• A reading-for-pleasure book to share and enjoy with family members.

We also provide guidance, workshops and online resources to help parents support reading and phonics at home.

Ensuring High Standards

All staff are trained in the Little Wandle programme and use consistent routines, language and resources. This ensures a high-quality phonics experience for every child.

Teaching and progress are regularly monitored by the Reading Leader and Senior Leadership Team to ensure children receive the support they need to succeed.

Phonics Screening Check

The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check takes place each summer term. It is a short assessment designed to check children’s ability to use phonics to read both real and pseudo (nonsense) words.

The check helps schools identify children who may need additional support. Any child who does not meet the expected standard in Year 1 will have the opportunity to retake the check in Year 2.

For more information about the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme, please see the resources linked below.