At Northam Federation, our Phonics and early reading is taught using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Phonics programme. Phonics is a method schools use to teach your child to read the sounds in words. It helps your child to learn to read quickly and skillfully and is an essential part of your child’s early education. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme developed for schools by schools. It has been developed based on the original Letters and Sounds, but extensively revised to provide a complete teaching programme meeting all the expectations of the National Curriculum for Reading, preparing your child to go beyond the expectations of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check and to provide your child with the knowledge and skills that they need to become a lifelong reader!

How we teach phonics

• In the nursery, children follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised ‘Foundations for Phonics’ guidance. The focus is on daily oral blending and language development through high quality stories and rhymes.

• In reception and Y1, children follow the progression within Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme. Phonics is taught daily and there is a review session on a Friday.

• Phonics starts in reception in week 2 to ensure the children make a strong start.

• Reception lessons start at 10 minutes, with daily additional oral blending – increasing to 30 minutes as soon as possible.

• Y1 lessons are 30 minutes long.

• In Y2-Y3, phonic lessons are taught daily to children where appropriate – following the model of Little Wandle but plugging specific gaps identified through assessment.

• In Y2-Y6 there are planned phonic ‘catch-up’ sessions following a set model to address specific reading/writing gaps. These are short, sharp sessions lasting 10 minutes in length and taking place at least three times a week.

Reading practice sessions

• Children across reception, year 1, year 2 (and beyond if appropriate) apply their phonics knowledge by using a full matched decodable reader in a small group reading practice session.

• These sessions are 20 minutes long and happen three times a week. There are approximately 6 children in a group.

• The sessions follow the model set out in Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.

• The children then take the same book home the following week to ensure success is shared with the family.

Support for parents

If you would like to learn more about how you can support your child with phonics please follow the link to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds site.

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

Supporting your child with reading

Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.

There are two types of reading book that your child may bring home:

A reading practice book.

This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency, comprehension and confidence in reading. Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, encourage them to sound it out then read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.

A sharing book. 

In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together. Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!