Phonics

Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) is our school synthetic phonics teaching programme and forms the bedrock of teaching Reading in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, dependent upon the need and time of year. ELS Progress is also a part of Year 3 and Year 4 provision.  

Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) ensure that ‘every child can read well, quickly.’ The principles of ELS are based upon: 

• The delivery of whole-class, high quality first teaching with well-structured daily lesson plans 

• The use of consistent terminology by teachers, children and parents 

• The use of consistent resources that support effective teaching 

• Repetition and reinforcement of learning 

• Regular assessment to ensure that all children ‘keep up’ rather than ‘catch up’ 

• The ‘E’ model