Phonics

Little Wandle

At St Mary’s CE (VA) Primary School we are committed to the delivery of excellence in the teaching of phonics. We aim to allow children to develop so that they are able to read with fluency as well as develop a love of reading that will allow our children to be ready for the rest of their lives. Through teaching word recognition we allow children to develop their phonological awareness, decoding and sight recognition. This is achieved through phonics teaching as explained below.

We aim to teach high quality phonics to ensre the children have the best start possible in reading and writing. The learning of phonics is the beginning of children’s knowledge, skills and undersgtanding that are an essential part of learning to read. Pupils will be taught to decode words on the page. Good quality phonics teaching allows the child to be secure in the skills of word recognition and decoding which allows for fluent reading. This will allow pupils to lead to becoming fluent readers and read for pleasure.

Our school selected Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised because it offers a systematic, synthetic phonics programme that is:

• Evidence-based and DfE validated: It aligns with the latest research and government guidance on effective phonics teaching.
• Consistent and structured: The programme provides a clear progression from Reception through Year 1, ensuring all children build secure foundations in reading.
• Inclusive and supportive: It includes robust support for children who need extra help, with catch-up interventions and regular assessments.
• Comprehensive training and resources: Staff benefit from high-quality professional development and easy-to-use planning materials.
• Focus on early reading success: It prioritises decoding skills, blending, and fluency, helping children become confident, independent readers.

As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At St Mary’s CE (VA) Primary School, we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

The reading journey begins in Lower Foundation where children will be given the foundations for phonics.

Foundations for phonics in Lower Foundation

• We provide a balance of child-led and adult-led experiences for all children that meet the curriculum expectations for ‘Communication and language’ and ‘Literacy’. In Nursery, we follow Phase 1 phonics which consists of the following:
  • sharing high-quality stories and poems
  • learning a range of nursery rhymes and action rhymes
  • activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending
  • attention to high-quality language.
• We ensure Nursery children are well prepared to begin learning grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and blending in Reception.

Pupils will then enter Reception where they have access to daily phonics session allowing children to develop their phonological awareness, which follows the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised structure of Revisit and Review, Teach and Practise, Practise and Apply and Guided Practice (reading a decodable book).

• We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 15-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible.
• Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term.
• We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress:
  • Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
  • Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.