Sherwood Park Primary School

At Sherwood Park Primary School, we believe that for all our children to become fluent readers and writers, phonics must be taught through a systematic and structured phonics programme.

In September 2021 we started using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to plan and provide daily engaging phonics lessons. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds draws on the latest research into how children learn best; how to ensure learning stays in children’s long-term memory and how best to enable children to apply their learning to become highly competent readers. In phonics, we teach children that the letters of the alphabet represent a different sound, that these can be used in a variety of combinations and are put together to make words. The children learn to recognise all of the different sounds and combinations that they might see when they are reading or writing. Our phonics teaching starts in Nursery and follows a very specific sequence that allows our children to build on their previous phonic knowledge and master specific phonic strategies as they move through school.

How we teach phonics

• In Nursery, children follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised ‘Foundations for Phonics’ guidance. The focus is on daily oral blending, phonemic awareness and language development through high quality stories, rhymes and games.
• In Reception and Year 1, children follow the progression within the 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.
• By the end of Reception, children will have been taught up to the end of Phase 4.
• By the end of Year 1, children will have been taught up to the end of phase 5.
• Reception lessons start at 10 minutes – increasing to 30 minutes as soon as possible.
• Year 1 lessons are 30 minutes long.
• In Year 2 (Autumn term), phonic lessons alongside Keep-Up support are taught daily to children where appropriate – following the model of Little Wandle but plugging specific gaps identified through assessment.
• Year 2 (after Christmas) and Key Stage 2 children who still need support with phonics and reading, continue with the Little Wandle ‘Rapid Catch-Up’ programme.

Reading Practice Sessions

• Children in Reception and Year 1 (and beyond if appropriate) apply their phonics knowledge by using a fully matched decodable book in a small group reading practice session.
• These sessions are up to 30 minutes long and happen three times a week. There are up to 6 children in a group.
• The sessions follow the model set out in Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
• The children then take home a copy of the book, which they read in between and after the reading practise sessions, to ensure success is shared with the family.
• In Reception these sessions start in week 4. Children who are not decoding do daily Keep-Up sessions and practise decoding some words linked to a wordless text. 

How do we assess phonic knowledge?

• In Reception and Year 1, at the end of each week there is a review session which recaps the learning. There are also whole review weeks (pre-planned and bespoke review weeks to address gaps identified by the class teacher’s ongoing assessment).
• Children identified in Reception and Year 1 as in danger of falling behind are immediately identified and daily ‘Keep-Up’ sessions are put in place – sessions follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
• In Reception and Year 1, the children are assessed at the end of every half term using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessment tracker.
• The children in Year 1 sit the Phonics Screening Check in the Summer term.
• Children who do not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, will re-sit this in Year 2.
• Where necessary, children in Year 2 and Key Stage 2 who need ‘Keep-Up’ sessions are assessed through teacher’s ongoing assessment as well as half termly assessments.

If you would like more information about how to support your child with phonics at home, please follow this link to find the Reception and Year 1 overview as well as videos of the sound pronunciations, letter formation sheets and other helpful resources.

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