Phonics and Early Reading

We follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised  which is a complete systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programme which has been built around the update (Department for Education- Letters and Sounds improving rates of progress 2021) and draws on excellent practice. The programme was developed by English hubs, working in partnership with phonics and early reading experts. It 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.

It incorporates seven features of effective phonics practice:

• direct teaching in frequent, short bursts
• consistency of approach
• secure, systematic progression in phonics learning
• maintaining pace of learning
• providing repeated practice
• application of phonics using matched decodable books
• early identification of children at risk of falling behind, linked to the provision of effective keep-up support

In Reception and Year 1, children read Collins Big Cat for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised books which are fully decodable books matched to our programme progression.

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised 2021:

Programme progression

Reception and Year 1 overviews

This programme overview shows the progression of GPCs and tricky words that we teach term-by-term. The progression has been organised so that children are taught from the simple to more complex GPCs, as well as taking into account the frequency of their occurrence in the most commonly encountered words. All the graphemes taught are practised in words, sentences, and later on, in fully decodable books.

Children review and revise GPCs and words, daily, weekly and across terms and years, in order to move this knowledge into their long-term memory. Children need to learn to read as quickly as reasonably possible, so they can move from learning to read, to reading to learn, giving them access to the treasure house of reading. 

Children who are not keeping up with their peers are given additional practice immediately through keep-up sessions.

*The tricky words ‘put’, ‘pull’, ‘full’ and ‘push’ may not be tricky in some regional pronunciations; in which case, they should not be treated as such.

Year 1

*The tricky words ‘put’, ‘pull’, ‘full’ and ‘push’ may not be tricky in some regional pronunciations; in which case, they should not be treated as such.

*The tricky word ‘ask’ may not be tricky in some regional pronunciations; in which case, it should not be treated as such.

*The tricky words ‘half’ and ‘father’ may not be pronounced as this in some regional pronunciations; in which case, they should not be treated as such.

Summer 1: Phonics screening check review – no new GPCs or tricky words