Phonics

At Orchard Primary school staff work hard to foster and instil a love of reading in all pupils, regardless of their previous reading experiences or background. We strongly believe every child should be an accomplished reader by the time they leave our school.

One of the most effective ways of teaching children to read is using a Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) programme. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, is a phonics programme validated by the Department for Education in July 2021, that we use at Orchard.

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised has been developed by Little Sutton and Wandle English Hubs in partnership with other phonics and early reading experts. The programme has been built around the Department for Education, Letters and Sounds (which we have been using since it was launched in 2007) designed to teach children in Reception and Year One. The programme covers Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence’s (GPCs) and Tricky Words in Phases 2 to 5. The programme includes weekly lesson plans and planned assessment materials to help achieve a constant pace of learning.

What is Phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully.

They are taught how to:

• recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes;
• identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make - such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’;
• blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word.

Children can then use this knowledge to ‘de-code’ new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.

The teaching of phonics starts in Nursery with a big focus on oral blending. Once children are in Reception they progress on to learning specific phonemes, writing graphemes and
becoming real readers, which is just so exciting for them and us!

With only very minor exceptions, the phonics content of the original Letters and Sounds has been retained, particularly the progression, the important phases and the teaching sequence.

What will be taught during each phase?

Phase 1: Focussing on oral blending and tuning into sounds (Foundation Stage) Oral blending is part of every lesson in every phase as we know it remains an important part of blending words to read.
Phase 2: Includes all consonants and all the consonant digraphs: ff ll ss zz qu ch sh th ng nk.
Phase 3: Includes ai ee igh oa oo oo ar or ur er ow oi ear air and double letters (‘ure’ has been omitted but the most common ‘ure’ words sure and pure are included as tricky words in Phase 3).
Phase 4: Clusters and compound words (fluency of previously learnt phonics)
Phase 5: Has been organised into a sequence. Tricky words have been increased to include those in the National Curriculum and a few very common words originally listed in the Appendix of Letters and Sounds Next 200 common words in order of frequency.

Please see the programme progression overview for more information.

Can all teach Little Wandle phonics?
All staff completed comprehensive on-demand online training consisting of six modules to ensure consistency and validity of running the programme. Reading Leader training is provided regularly throughout the year via live webinars, recordings and other coaching support. 

When is handwriting taught?
During phonics sessions, letter formation is taught using formation phrases, which make a link between the mnemonic and the letter. As per the Department for Education guidance we do not teach cursive at this stage. Additional handwriting sessions outside the phonics lessons will also take place.

What if children fall behind or do not keep up with their peers?
A Rapid Catch-up programme is used with children in Year 2 and above who are not reading at the expected level for their age. It mirrors the main phonics programme but has been created to help children catch up quickly, so has a faster pace. By the end of the Rapid Catch-up programme, children should be reading with enough fluency and accuracy to access the curriculum in class. In Reception and Year 1, daily keep-up sessions ensure no child falls behind.

What if a child has additional needs or SEND
The Little Wandle SEND Programme has been developed to be used with the graduated approach to teach children to learn to read in small steps that provide the right amount of challenge. The SEND Programme is NOT additional practice for those children who are falling slightly behind their peers. It provides pathways for pupils who may need very specific adaptations to the teaching steps because they have complex needs, and has been developed with the advice from Special schools across the country.

Supporting your child with reading at home
Although children will be taught to read at school, parents / carers can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home. There are two types of reading book that a child may take home:

• A reading practice book. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child and they should be able to read this fluently and independently.
• A sharing book. Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.

Please have a look at the leaflet and PPT presentation “Everybody Read!”.