Caroline Derby talks to Tara Dodson and Katie Press to chat about Essential Letters and Sounds, a new DfE validated phonics programme developed by Knowledge Schools Trust English Hub and published by Oxford University Press. 

Caroline Derby is Head of Phonics and Early Literacy publishing at Oxford University Press. She has been a children’s and educational publisher for many years, specialising in primary literacy. She is also vice-chair of governors at a nursery school in Oxford. 

Tara Dodson has many years of experience in supporting schools across London as Reading Lead and developing CPD programmes for phonics and early reading. She is the English Hub Lead for the Knowledge Schools Trust English Hub. 

Katie Press is a specialist English teacher, supporting schools in developing their phonics practice and modelling high quality phonics and early reading teaching. She is the English Lead for the Knowledge Schools Trust Primaries and a Literacy Specialist for the KST English Hub. 

Further reading and support:

• Find out more about Essential Letters and Sounds.
• Is ELS the right SSP programme for your school? Watch our on-demand webinar where Tara and Katie are joined by Debbie James, Tanya Freeman and Lauren Heawood. They discuss why they chose the programme, how they’ve implemented it in their schools, what the successes and challenges have been, and how their pupils are getting on.