At Oak Hill, we use Little Wandle to teach phonics. Teaching children in small groups with opportunities for catch up sessions for those who need additional, target support to thrive and flourish as readers.

Little Wandle offers a 'complete phonics programme also draws 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.'

Our Aims

• To provide high-quality, systematic phonics teaching for all children.

• To ensure a consistent approach across the school, underpinned by fidelity to our chosen programme.

• To enable children to use their phonic knowledge and skills as their first approach to reading and spelling.

• To identify pupils at risk of falling behind and provide targeted support swiftly.

• To promote a love of reading, ensuring children read with enjoyment, fluency, and understanding.

 

Approach to Teaching Phonics

• We follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a DfE validated scheme.

• Phonics is taught daily from Reception through to the end of Key Stage 1 (and into Key Stage 2 where needed).

• Sessions follow a consistent structure: Revisit & Review, Teach, Practise, Apply.

• Lessons are interactive and fast-paced, making use of rhymes and visual prompts.

• Children practise both reading and spelling, with equal emphasis placed on blending (for reading) and segmenting (for spelling).

• Phonics learning is applied across the curriculum, for example in guided reading, writing tasks, and topic-based learning.

 

Organisation and Routines

• Reception: Daily phonics sessions of around 20 minutes, gradually increasing to 30 minutes. Children begin learning phonemes in Week 2. 

• Year 1: Daily phonics sessions of 30 minutes, ensuring full coverage of the programme in preparation for the Phonics Screening Check.

• Year 2: Daily sessions continue as revision and they then progress to spelling lessons. 

• Key Stage 2: Pupils who have not yet secured phonics knowledge access small group or 1:1 phonics interventions.

 

Please see the link below for additional information for parents to best support phonics at home. 

Little Wandle information for parents

Phonics and Early Reading Intent, Implementation and Impact.docx

[pdf 300KB]