Phonics

At All Saints, our goal is to ensure all children learn to become fluent readers as quickly as possible. This is achieved through a combination of phonics, intervention groups and group guided reading sessions.

As a school we have chosen to follow the phonics scheme, Little Wandle. Phase 1 Phonics is introduced in our Nursery with the goal of ensuring that our nursery children leave with a secure knowledge of rhyme and alliteration, environmental sounds and able to orally blend. 

Little Wandle continues in Reception. We start with phase 2 phonics as soon as possible and this is when the children begin to learn the individual phonemes for each letter (grapheme). We use a variety of books that have been carefully aligned with the Little Wandle scheme as home readers for Reception children. By the end of Reception, we target all children to have a secure understanding of Phase 4.

Little Wandle continues in Year 1 and sessions are taught daily. Phonics in year 1 is taught in a similar way to Reception and for any child who needs extra support, they will be part of 'Keep up Sessions'. Again we use a variety of books that have been aligned with the Little Wandle phases.  By the end of Year 1, we want all children to have a secure understanding of Phase 5 and to have developed reading fluency. 

We timetable phonics sessions for any child in Year 2 or 3 who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics Screening Check. These children need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Keep-up resources.

Please find the link below, where it gives you more information on how to support your child at home. You will also find videos on how pronounce each sound correctly. 

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/