Phonics and Early Reading at Bushfield Road Infant School
The Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Programme
We're delighted to share with you that we've adopted in the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme for the whole school. 'Little Wandle' is a phonics and reading programme validated by the Department for Education.
Little Wandle Letters and Sounds has been built around the Department for Education 'Letters and Sounds, Improving Rates of Progress' (2021 update), funded by the Department for Education, as well as drawing 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.
At Bushfield Infants we strive to ensure reading is prioritised as it is the gateway to learning, so that children can access all areas of the curriculum successfully, independently and confidently.
We make a strong start teaching phonics in EYFS so all children get to learn to read quickly. This is recommended by Ofsted and the Department for Education. To teach early reading, we are following ‘Little Wandle, Letters and Sounds Revised’ which is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP). Children continue to learn their phonics through Little Wandle in their daily teaching, and will have three reading sessions each week with a member of the teaching team. Children are assessed at least half termly and any children identified as having the need will continue with the Little Wandle phonics until the phases are complete, so they may continue into Year 2 and onwards.
This scheme has given us new and updated resources alongside new reading books that will continue to engage the children to develop a love of reading. All staff in school have received training in this programme.
Supporting your child with reading
Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.
There are two types of reading book that your child may bring home:
- A reading practice book, which will be sent home for you to hear your child read on Fridays and returned Monday. This will be at the correct phonic phase for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently.
- A sharing book. Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.
Reading practice book
This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. 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.
From Monday to Thursday this book will stay in school, and your child will read it in a small group to one of our trained Little Wandle staff members three times over the week.
From Friday to Monday they will bring this home. Please listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.
Sharing book
In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together. This book will be sent home on a Monday and changed every Monday.
Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!
This scheme has given us new and updated resources alongside new reading books that will continue to engage the children to develop a love of reading. All staff in school have received training in this programme.
Hearing Children Read
You can find additional information on the Little Wandle web page for parents and carers by clicking on the link below. There's a wealth of helpful guidance such as the information sheets explaining how to say the sounds and write each grapheme with correct letter formation. There are also some short videos for you to access in the support for phonics area, for example the short video about how to teach blending below.
Click here for Resources for Parents
View the Grow the Code Sound Mat
View the Programme Progression: Reception and Year 1 Overviews
View our Phonics and Early Reading Policy
If you have any queries about our phonics and early reading programme, please speak to your child’s class teacher.