Phonics

At All Saints, we recognise reading as a key life skill, which underpins access to the rest of the curriculum.

We teach children early reading skills using a systematic synthetic phonics scheme (SSP). Evidence shows that when delivered in a structured way phonics is one of the most effective ways to teach young children to read.

We have carefully chosen to use Little Wandle as our phonics programme. This is delivered daily by our trained staff.

What is Phonics?

“Phonics is making connections between the sounds of our spoken words and the letters that are used to write them down.” – Little Wandle Letters and Sounds 2022.

Children begin their phonics journey as soon as they start school at All Saints. Children are taught to:

• Recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes (segment);
• Identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make e.g. sh, th, oo;
• Blend sounds to read a word.

Children continue learning phonics throughout KS1 and until they can read fluently.  Some children may continue this teaching if necessary at All Saints CE Junior.

Our aim is to ensure that all of our children become successful, fluent readers by the time they leave our school and develop a lifelong love of reading.

How is phonics taught?

As well as daily phonics lessons, all children in Early Years and Year 1 have three 'reading practice' sessions each week which complement their phonics teaching.

• In the reading sessions we aim to build fluency, expression, intonation (prosody) and comprehension. The children read the same 'matched-decodable' book as a group each session, and discuss it with an adult.
• We then send home fully decodable Phonics Book to read at home.  This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level based on most recent assessments. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.
• We will also send home a Sharing Book. This is a book the children have chosen that interests them - they might not be able to read all the words, so help them, read it to them, talk about it, explain what any unfamiliar words mean, and build up a love of reading with them. 
• These two complementary  approaches will be hugely beneficial - decoding and building fluency on their own with the Phonics Book , and developing reading for pleasure with the Sharing Book - 5 minutes a day, little and often, or more if you have time.

What sounds are taught and when?

The resources below will help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also some useful videos so you can see how they are taught at school and feel confident about supporting their reading at home. 

Reception Autumn 1 sounds

Download a guide to how children are taught to say their sounds in Reception Autumn 1 (when they first start school in September through to October half term.

You can also watch a short (one minute) video of the sounds being pronounced using this LINK.

Reception Autumn 2 sounds

Download a guide to how children are taught to say their sounds in Reception Autumn 2 (from November through to the end of term, as we break for Christmas).

You can also watch a short (less than one minute) video of the sounds being pronounced using this LINK.

Reception Spring 1 sounds

Download a guide to how children are taught to say their sounds in Reception Spring 1 (from January through to February half term).

You can also watch a short (less than one minute) video of the sounds being pronounced using this LINK.

Year 1 sounds​​​​​​​

Download a guide to how children are taught to say their sounds in Year 1.

You can also watch a short (less than one minute) video of the sounds being pronounced using this LINK.

Supporting children with special educational needs

Trained staff use Little Wandle's SEND Programme to provide support for identified children.

This additional programme has been developed to be used with the graduated approach to teach children to learn to read in small steps that provide the right amount of challenge.

The SEND Programme isn’t additional practice for those children who are falling slightly behind their peers. It provides a discrete pathway for pupils who may need very specific adaptations to the teaching steps because they have complex needs, and has been developed with the advice from special schools across the country.

More resources for parents

Little Wandle have a dedicated page for parents which is packed full of useful resources. 

The resources on this page will help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also some useful videos so you can see how they are taught at school and feel confident about supporting their reading at home. 

Parents can also find out more information about the books which we send home.

Early reading and phonics policy 

We have an agreed policy for the teaching of phonics and early reading. You can find this on the policies section of our website.