Phonics

' Reading is a passport to countless adventures'

         Mary Pope Osborne

LITTLE WANDLE

St. Luke's CE Primary School use Little Wandle Phonics Programme, a government validated systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP) The programme is designed to teach children to read from Reception to Key Stage 1. 

INTENT

We are passionate about ensuring that all children become confident and enthusiastic readers and writers, developing a love of reading! We believe that phonics provides the foundations in supporting children to develop these skills in order for this to become achievable. We start teaching Phonics in Nursery and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read.

The teaching of Phonics is fast-paced, and we encourage all children to actively participate in each lesson, and by encouraging the children to take ownership of their learning we are continuously striving for excellence. We ensure that we provide all children with the fundamental skills that will enable them to be confident and fluent readers.

IMPLEMENTATION

Daily phonics lessons 

* We teach phonics for up to 30 minutes a day. 

* Children read, in small groups, 3 times a week.

* A Phonics Book AND a 'Sharing Book' are brought home each week

*Parents are asked to listen to their child read at least 4 times throughout the week/weekend, and  record these sessions in their child's reading record book. 

*Phonics books must be brought back into school each day for small group reading sessions to take place.

*A new phonics book and sharing book will be given each week

*If a child is struggling to keep up, then additional sessions will be provided immediately

*Peer Reading- Some pupils read daily with our Year 5 and Year 6 Reading Buddies

*Parents are provide with resources to support their child at home, and given opportunities to come in and discuss with Phonics Lead and class teacher

IMPACT

By the time children leave St. Luke's CE Primary School, our intention is, that they are competent and fluent readers who can recommend books to their peers, have a passion for reading a range of genres including poetry, and participate in discussions about books. We believe that reading is the key to all learning and so the impact of our reading curriculum goes beyond and is embedded across the entire curriculum for our children.

Helpful Information for Parents

Please access the Little Wandle website (links below) to find out more information. The 'For Parents' section provides helpful videos too!