Lead Teacher –  Mrs Terris

What is phonics?

Phonics makes connections between the sounds of our spoken words (phonemes) and the letters that are used to write them down (graphemes). Decoding and encoding is taught through our systematic synthetic Phonics (SSP) programme - Little Wandle Letters and Sounds (Revised). 

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds follows a clear progression from Reception to Year 1 which enables the children to build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell fluently and accurately.

How is phonics taught at Hertford St Andrew?

Nursery - Children focus on language development through quality stories and rhymes in addition to oral blending. This is supported by the ‘Foundations for Phonics guidance’ in Little Wandle progression. Phonics is taught daily.

Reception and Year 1 - Children follow the progression within the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Programme. Phonics is taught daily with a review session each week.

Phonics Screening Check

Year 1 children will take part in a Phonics Screening Check in June. The check is designed to confirm whether children have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It will identify those children who need extra help to improve their decoding skills. The check consists of 20 real words and 20 pseudo-words that a pupil reads aloud to the teacher. Results will be reported to parents. 

You can find information about how we teach Phonics on the Little Wandle website here:

Here are the slides from our parent meeting: