Phonics - Our Intent

To ensure that every child can decode words accurately, blend and read with automaticity and fluently.

Grow the Code

Through our phonics and spellings sessions, and when teaching reading or spelling across the curriculum, children will refer to the Grow the Code Mat to support them. This shows the graphemes in which the children will learn or have already learnt through the Little Wandle Letters and Sound Revised program during their phonics sessions.

Download: Grow the Code Mat

Implementation

At Fourlanesend C P School, reading is at the heart of our curriculum. Therefore, we provide a balance of child-led and adult-led experiences in reading for all children across the curriculum. These include:

• sharing high-quality stories, texts and poems
• activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending
• developing and drawing attention to high-quality language.
• reading skills sessions taught four times with an emphasis on improving reading fluency.

Phonics Sessions

• Whole class daily phonics lessons
• Use books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments
• Are monitored by the phonics leader, who rotates groups based on assessment on a regular basis.

Each phonics session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the lessons do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:

• decoding- reading with increasing accuracy and speed
• prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
• comprehension: teaching children to understand the text.

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics is taught from Reception to Year 2. Children in KS2, who still need phonics support are placed onto the Rapid Catch-Up Little Wandle programme.  Children in Year 2, who have completed the scheme and have a fluency rate of over 90% are moved onto the Little Wandle Fluency programme. We 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 the school.

Opportunities

Phonics sessions play a crucial role in enhancing children’s speech and language development. By focusing on the systematic teaching of sounds, known as phonemes, these sessions play a crucial role in enhancing children’s speech and language development. By focusing on the systematic teaching of sounds, known facilitate accurate pronunciation and articulation, which are fundamental for effective communication. Through the blending of sounds to form words, children learn to decode language, thereby building their reading and writing skills.

During phonics sessions, adults model the correct pronunciation of individual phonemes, ensuring that children are exposed to a range of sounds. This explicit instruction helps to improve their phonological awareness, allowing them to distinguish between similar sounds and to recognise the distinctions in spoken language.

In summary, phonics sessions not only support reading and writing skills but also significantly contribute to the overall development of children’s speech and language capabilities.

Recommended Links

Phonics Games- Topmarks (opens new page)

Alpha Block Games (opens new page)

Phonics Games- ICT Games (opens new page)

Spelling Home Learning- Ed Shed (opens new page)

Little Wandle resource page for parents

Online Phonics Games

Impact

To ensure that every child can decode words accurately, it is essential to support their journey towards becoming confident, fluent readers who develop a genuine love for reading. Children should acquire the ability to apply their knowledge of phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (how that sound is written) to decode unfamiliar words. This foundational skill will significantly enhance their reading fluency and comprehension, thereby granting them full access to the curriculum.

At Fourlanesend CP School, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.

Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have a Phonics Leader who drives the Rapid Catch Up programme in our school. This person is highly skilled at teaching phonics and reading, and they monitor and support our phonics team, so everyone teaches with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.

Assessment

Assessment is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support as soon as they need it.

• Reception to Year 2:
• Daily assessment with phonics lessons to identify gaps in learning that need to be addressed in Daily Keep-Up sessions.
• Once a half-term to assess progress, to identify gaps in learning that need to be addressed and to identify any children needing additional support with their reading.
• To assess phonics and scrutinise attainment through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessment tracker, to narrow attainment gaps between different groups of children and so that any additional support can be put into place.
• with any child new to the school we quickly identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan and provide appropriate support if needed.

• Years 3 to 6:

• Assessed using the Rapid Catch-up initial assessment to quickly identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan appropriate teaching
• The Rapid Catch-up summative assessments to assess progress and inform teaching
• Assessments carried out every four quicks to quickly identify gaps and inform next steps.