Essential Letters and Sounds: Essential Phonic Readers: Oxford Reading Level 5: Helping Out

Helping Out allows children to apply their phonics learning from Year 1, Autumn 2, Week 1 of Essential Letters and Sounds. These readers complement existing Oxford University Press decodable books and can be used alongside them to strengthen phonics teaching and reading confidence.


Engaging fiction and non-fiction fully aligned to each week of Essential Letters and Sounds, allowing children to consolidate their phonic knowledge through reading in context. These fully decodable readers are 100% matched to the phonic progression of Essential Letters and Sounds. Essential Letters and Sounds is a systematic synthetic phonics programme validated by the Department for Education.


Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) is a Department for Education validated synthetic phonics programme, developed by the Knowledge Schools Trust English Hub to help children learn to read quickly and confidently.


Structured around daily lessons and matched to the progression of the original Letters and Sounds framework, ELS provides a clear, systematic approach to phonics. Each stage is supported by engaging decodable books, interactive resources, and practical guidance for parents and teachers.


Used in classrooms across the UK, ELS is designed to build fluent readers, confident speakers, and willing writers. Affordable, flexible, and easy to implement, it works seamlessly with existing resources while offering everything needed to support children's literacy journey both at school and at home.