Reading & Phonics

We use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds for our Phonics and Early Reading Curriculum. Each day the children have a phonics lesson following the Little Wandle scheme (see overview below) and they read with the class teacher three times each week within a group - we call this reading practise. 

Reading Practise Groups

Each week the children read a book that is carefully matched to their secure phonic knowledge. Reading a book that is made up of graphemes they know well means they experience success and develop of love of reading. 

Group sessions focus on decoding (concentrating on sounding out and blending words where necessary), prosody (reading with meaning, stress and intonation) and comprehension (to understand the text). At the end of the week, the children are allocated the same book to read at home. Reading practise sessions develop fluency (reading without having to segment and blend). 

Below are documents to help you at home; letter formation guides, pronunciation guides and an overview of what is taught and when.  If you would like to see what a Little Wandle phonics lesson looks like, there is a video for every lesson on You Tube. These are very useful if you are learning from home or catching up after absence. Lessons are organised into terms. Click here. 

If you would like to learn more about Little Wandle follow the link - Little Wandle Parent Page 

Reading For Pleasure

Each week, in addition to your child's allocated book, they will bring home a sharing book for them to enjoy with an adult. This book will be too tricky for them to read themselves. They will choose it from either our classroom book corner or from our school library which we frequently visit. This book will provide an opportunity for lots of lovely book talk. Talking to your children about the books they read is one of the best ways to support your child’s literacy development. Here are some questions that you might find helpful...

Before your child reads a book, ask:

• Why did you select this book?
• What makes you think this book is going to be interesting?
• What do you think the book is going to be about?
• Does this book remind you of anything else you’ve already read or seen?
• What kind of characters do you think will be in the book?
• What do you think is going to happen?

While your child is reading a book, try asking:

• What’s happened so far?
• What do you think will happen next?
• How is the character feeling? What makes you think that?
• Where is the book set?
• If the main character in that story lived next door, would you be friends?
• Did you learn any new words or facts so far?

After your child has finished a book, ask questions like:

• What was your favourite part of the book? Why?
• Who was your favourite character? Why?
• Did you learn anything new from the book?
• Did it end the way you thought it would?
• Was there a problem in the book and did it get solved?
• If you could change one thing in the book, what would it be?