Phonics and Early Reading at Forest Fields Primary 

At Forest Fields Primary School we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme, an accredited SSP programme. We start teaching phonics in F1and F2 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.

We work to ensure that all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At Forest Fields Primary School, we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

Daily phonics lessons in F2 and Year 1

• We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In F2, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.
• Children make a strong start in F2: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term.
• We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds revised expectations of progress
  • Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
  • Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.

Reading

We begin to teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. These:

• are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups of approximately six children
• use books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments and book matching grids on pages 11–20 of ‘Application of phonics to reading’
• are monitored by the class teacher, who rotates and works with each group on a regular basis.
• Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:
  • decoding
  • prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
  • comprehension: teaching children to understand the text.

• In Reception these sessions start in Week 4. Children who are not yet decoding have daily additional blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.
• In Year 2 and 3, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books.

For further detail, please see our Phonics and Early Reading Policy.

Find out more

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds have produced lots of great resources to explain how phonics is taught using their programme. Below you can find a full progression showing what our children will learn in phonics lessons and a link to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Parents/Carers webpage.

Link for Parents and Carers to Little Wandle Letters and Sounds for further support