At St Paul's we use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics scheme.
Our phonics scheme is used from Nursery onwards. Phonics is taught daily.
In addition to this, the children start taking part in reading practice groups. The children take part in reading three times a week with a member
of staff and they will then take this book home for the week. Our Reception reading books are changed on a Thursday.
What is Little Wandle?
Little Wandle (RWI) is a phonics complete literacy programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. The programme is designed for children aged 4-7. However, at St Paul's C of E Primary School we begin the programme in Nursery and will continue teaching LW to children beyond the age of 7. Little Wandle was developed by Wandle and Little Sutton English Hubs and taken forward by Little Sutton Primary School and Wandle Learning Trust in partnership with other phonics and early reading experts.
Reception
When appropriate, children at St Paul's will be introduced to the initial sounds in short five minutes sessions. In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down.
Reading
The children:
- Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts – see below
- Learn to read words using segmenting and sound blending
- Read from a range of storybooks and non-fictions books matched to their phonic knowledge
- Work well with partners
- Develop comprehension skills in stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’ discussion questions
Writing
The children:
- Learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases
- Learn to write words by using segmenting and blending skills
- Learn to build sentences by practicing sentences out loud before they write
Talking
The children:
- They work in pairs so that they:
- Answer every question
- Practice every activity with their partner
- Take turns in talking and reading to each other
- Develop ambitious vocabulary
Progressing through the stages
Children follow the same format as Early Years but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily sessions of Little Wandle phonics last 30 minutes.
Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Little Wandle sessions:
Purpose – know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about
Participation – ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning
Praise – ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability
Pace – teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning
Passion – be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally.
Children will be taught how to read as follows:
Before you start to teach your child, practice saying the sounds below. These are the sounds we use to speak in English. Children initially begin using pictures for each sound, this will help children recognise the sound and then form the shape of the sound.
Step 2:
The children are then taught the long vowel sounds, using pictures and rhymes to help the children to identify and remember these:
Step 3:
Within all the Little Wandle sessions/books children will be exposed to tricky words. These are words that are not able to be sounded out as they do not contain single sounds which can be blended. The children are taught to identify the tricky part within each word and are encouraged to read these words on sight.
