Phonics

At Holy Cross, we use the programme, Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds to teach synthetic, systematic phonics which is a method of teaching where words are broken up into the smallest units of sound (phonemes). Children learn to make connections between the letters of written words (graphemes) and the sounds of spoken language. 

The techniques of segmenting (breaking words into phonemes) and blending (saying the phonemes together to create a word) are taught and practised frequently, especially for unfamiliar words, which is known as a decoding strategy. Children then progress onto sight reading (reading words automatically) to become fluent readers and spellers. 

At Holy Cross, we follow the Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds phonics programme. This programme aims to build children's speaking and listening skills in their own right as well as to prepare children for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and skills. It sets out a detailed and systematic programme for teaching phonic skills for children starting by the age of five, with the aim of them becoming fluent readers by age seven. 

There are six overlapping phases. These are explored in more detail in the guidance below.