We have used Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised since September 2022 to teach phonics and reading from Nursery to Year 2.

In the Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1 phonics is taught everyday and additional strategies and small group interventions are put in place for children that may need some additional support.

Phonics is important for children to become effective readers and our children are taught phonics as part of a language rich curriculum, so that they develop their wider reading skills..

We hold Reading and phonics workshops for parents during the year to support reading at home.

Parents, carers and significant adults are invited to Reading Mornings each Friday morning in Years 1 - 3.

Parents in Reception and Year 1 have had specific guided group reading training to support daily reading in classrooms. 

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised information for parents and carers

Each week your child will bring 2 books to read at home:

1. A sharing book from our magical, enchanted library or your child's classroom.

2. A leveled book to read with you at home as your child becomes a fluent reader. 

We really encourage dialogue between home and school so please complete the reading record with your child each week.

Helping your child with phonics
Phonics works best when children are given plenty of encouragement and learn to enjoy reading and books. Here are some simple things to support your child

• Attend our parent phonics workshops
• Highlight letter sounds (phonemes) when you read with your child. Teaching how sounds (phonemes) match with letter names (graphemes) starts with individual letters such as ‘s’, ‘a’ and ‘t’ and then moves on to two-letter sounds (diagraphs) such as ‘ee’, ‘ch’ and ‘ck’.
• With all books, encourage your child to ‘sound out’ unfamiliar words and then blend the sounds (phonemes) together from left to right rather than looking at the pictures to guess. Once your child has read an unfamiliar word, talk about what it means and help them to follow the story.
• Your child’s teacher will be able to suggest books with the right level of phonics for your child so that your child will be able to work out new words from their letters and sounds, rather than just guessing.
• Read with your child every day. Grandparents, the extended family and older siblings can help, too. Encourage your child to blend the sounds all the way through a word.
• Word games like ‘I-spy’ can also be an enjoyable way of teaching children about sounds (phonemes) and letter names (graphemes). You can also encourage your child to read words from your shopping list or road signs to practise phonics.
• Use the reading record to communicate about books and reading with your child's teacher, this tells us whether your child has enjoyed a particular book and shows problems or successes he or she has had at home.

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check

The phonics screening check is statutory and comprises of a short and simple assessment of phonic decoding. It consists of a list of 40 words, half real words and half non-words, which Year 1 children read to familiar adult in their classroom. Administering the assessment usually takes between four and nine minutes per child.

The check is designed to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard and have grasped the essential skills that underpin good reading.

Pupils who have not reached the standard at the end of Year 1 receive extra support to ensure they can improve their phonic decoding skills. They have the opportunity to retake the screening check in Year 2.

DfE Phonics information for parents and carers