Intent

At Pyrcroft Grange we aim to deliver daily phonic sessions through high quality teaching and consistently implement our phonics program, Little Wandle. Children will revisit prior knowledge to embed and build on their phonics knowledge. This will ensure the children are equipped with effective decoding skills for reading. We will provide children with books that match their phonics ability enabling them to have an “I can...” attitude towards decoding and developing fluency to become competent readers. Children will be exposed to a range of vocabulary during guided reading sessions, where decoding will be regularly practised. We will incorporate personalised approaches to ensure all children keep up and access phonic sessions. We will use ongoing assessment to identify barriers and ensure the most effective targeted interventions are in place to close any gaps in the children’s phonics learning. Our phonics program is ambitious, yet achievable to ensure that the highest number of children pass the Year 1 phonics screening check.

Implementation

We believe that reading is the key to accessing our full curriculum and therefore prioritise the teaching of phonic skills to ignite the development of early reading.

To allow our children to develop strong phonic awareness, effective blending and segmenting skills we are using Little Wandle Letters Sounds revised. The programme follows a systematic and synthetic approach to teaching phonics. The programme provides a clear structure and progression of knowledge and skills from Reception to Year 2.

Nursery

Strong foundations for phonics and early reading will be instilled within the nursery setting through our phonics programme Little Wandle.

Children will be;

· exposed to a language rich environment.

· engage in high quality adult interactions.

· Children have access to high quality texts and mark making tools.

· Children are exposed to Phase 1 phonics through challenging engaging adult led sessions.

· Children have opportunities to explore speaking and listening skills throughout the nursery provision.

Reception and Year 1

Rigorous practise will take part in daily phonic sessions each morning in Reception and Year 1. All sessions follow a consistent revisit teach, apply and practise approach.

Phonics is taught in whole class sessions led by the teacher, who explicitly models the knowledge and skills. All teachers have access to high quality planning and shared resources to deliver phonic sessions. Teachers use visual representations and fonts that are consistent throughout the school.

Phonics sounds and tricky words are displayed in each classroom to support the phonics in all areas of the curriculum. Teachers will use Little Wandle to assess and analyse data to identify gaps and barriers in the children’s phonic knowledge. Teachers ensure that all children make progress through use of precision teaching and intervention. Children will work independently, with peers or in guided groups to reflect the level of support needed.

Guided reading

Children will engage in guided reading sessions three times a week, with books matched to the children’s phonic ability to practise decoding, prosody and comprehension skills.

In addition, children in Nursery and Key stage 1 will engage in book talk and story time sessions to expose children to a range of high-quality texts and vocabulary. The children will have opportunities to listen, explore

new vocabulary, discuss, and answer questions about the text.

Home reading

We ask parents to develop a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ culture at home from the earliest age. Once issued with a reading book from school, we ask that parents read with their child each day and record this in a Reading Record. Children will bring home one book matched to their phonic ability to enable decoding practise and develop the sight reading of words for fluency. In addition to this the children will bring home a “sharing book.” 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.

Year 2-6

Although we aim for all children to successfully complete our phonics programme by the end of Year 1, we acknowledge that some children will need some additional intervention sessions to help them succeed. To facilitate this support, we use precision teach and the Little Wandle Rapid Catch-up intervention programme. This will support children in identifying GPCs, blending, segmenting for reading and writing.

This support is in place for:

· Children who did not pass the phonics screening.

· Children who are struggling to blend and segment successfully.

· Children who have additional needs that prevent them successfully embedding the phonic code.

Continuous Professional Development

Staff will be exposed to regular training sessions, linked to the progression and delivery of the Little

Wandle programme.

Impact

As a result, children will be able to recognise GPCS, blend and segment confident by the end of Year 1. They will be moving on from learning read to reading to learn. Children will have a love of reading, because they feel confident reading books that are matched to their phonic ability. By implementing high-quality teaching and interventions most children will become fluent and confident readers by the end of Key stage 1 and therefore a high number of children will pass the Phonic Screening Check at the end of Year 1. Children will be equipped with the reading skills to transition into Key Stage 2 and access the curriculum with confidence.