At Kingswood, we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Programme, which has been developed by Wandle and Little Sutton English Hubs. All parents have access to the scheme to enable them to support their children in learning their phonics (details at the end).

All children in Reception and Year 1 have a daily phonics lesson, following the teaching sequence of revisit/review – teach – practise - apply. Reception and KS1 children are taught as a whole class, with additional keep-up sessions run daily. These are based on regular assessments, ensuring all children receive the appropriate support in their learning. In a lesson, children are taught either phonemes/ digraphs/ trigraphs, high frequency and/or tricky words and these are consolidated through reading and writing. (A glossary of terms can be found at the bottom of this page.)

There are lots of opportunities to speak and listen, as well as to read and write the sounds.  Teaching is enhanced through a range of teaching strategies including the use of media and interactive games.

In Year 2, children access a balance of both phonics and spelling punctuation and grammar (SPAG) lessons based on their individual needs and attainment. Any child that is identified as requiring further support, will continue learning phonics throughout Years 3 and 4 during interventions.  

At Kingswood we follow the seven key features identified as characterising effective phonics teaching:

• direct teaching in frequent, short bursts

• consistency of approach

• secure, systematic progression in phonics learning

• maintaining pace of learning

• providing repeated practice

• application of phonics using matched decodable books

• early identification of children at risk of falling behind, linked to the provision of effective keep-up support

In support of the children’s reading, children will have two types of books.

i) A (decodable) reading practice book carefully matched to the children’s phonic stage, and they should be able to read it fluently and independently and with very little help.

ii) A sharing book so children can enjoy books for pleasure - these should be shared with an adult and not be dependent upon a child’s phonological awareness. The adult can read it to the child so the book can be enjoyed. 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 etc.

At the end of Year 1, children have to take the national Phonics Screening Check which checks children’s knowledge of phonics. They are required to read real and nonsense words, applying the skills they have learnt. 

Reception and Year 1 teachers provide phonics information workshops for parents annually. The staff outline how phonics is taught at Kingswood and how parents can support their children.  More information can be found on the link below.

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/