• We provide a balance of child-led and adult-led experiences for all pupils that meet the curriculum expectations for ‘Communication and Language’ and ‘Literacy’. These include:

-Sharing high-quality stories and poems

-Learning a range of nursery rhymes and action rhymes

-Activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending

-Attention to high-quality language

• We ensure Nursery pupils are well prepared to begin learning grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and blending in Reception.
• In Nursery, our pupils learn a new Phase 2 sound per week and practise this sound using a range of Phase 1 activities and games from Little Wandle. Everytime the pupils learn a new sound this is added to their phonic learning wall.  The pupils have oral blending opportunities on a daily basis. During child-initiated play,  there are also additional phonic learning traps that the teacher has planned for so pupils can rehearse and master Phase 1 skills.

• We teach Phonics for 30 minutes a day at 9.00-9.30.  In Reception, we build from 10- minute lessons, with additional daily  blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Every Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help pupils become fluent readers.
• The teaching of phonics begins in Week 2, Autumn 1 in Reception.
• We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress.
• Pupils in Reception are taught to read and spell words using the Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy using the Little Wandle planning and resource packs.
• All GPCS have a mnemonic with a phrase that the staff must model and pupils use. These can be found on the Little Wandle website, my letters and sounds, weekly lesson content, Reception, resources, support for teachers.

• Every pupil in Year 2 or above who cannot read and did not pass their Phonic Screening check needs urgent targeted support so that they can access the curricu;um and enjoy reading.
• The Little Wandle catch up intervention mirros the main phonics programme but has a faster pace. It is to help pupils to catch up quickly.
• We timetable daily Phonics lessons for any child in Year 2,3,4,5,6 which is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics Screening Check. These pupils urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds revised assessments to identify the gaps in their Phonic knowledge. From this we plan ‘catch up’ lessons to address specific gaps. These short sharp lessons last ten minutes and take place at least three times a week.
• The adult delivering the catch up session will have a folder and will need to use the Little Wandle Catch up planning to support the pupils gaps which can be located on the Little Wandle website, my letters and sounds, rapid catch, planning. The adult must also evidence their intervention using the Little Wandle catch up record sheet and precision grid. These can be found on the Little Wandle website, daily catch up, resources, support for teacher.

Vocabulary has high focus and pupils are expected to develop a secure understanding of required terms. All staff must use the same terminology when teaching phonics.

Important vocabulary to be taught: Phoneme, grapheme, digraph, trigraph, blending, segmenting.

Teachers are always mindful of inclusion and differentiation. Learning must meet the needs of all pupils.

Phonics is vital for all areas of the curriculum. Children are supported to use phonics in all subjects.

• Staff daily assess the pupils within tge  class to identify pupils needing keep-up or catch up interventions.
• During the weekly review lesson on a Friday, staff  assess gaps and address these immediately in order to secure fluency of GPCs, words and spellings through keep up or catch up interventions.

• Pupils’s progress is continually reviewed to allow for movement between morning phonic groups, and pupils move phonics group when it is necessary to meet their needs. Every six weeks, staff assess the progress the pupils have made to identify any pupils needing additional support and to plan the keep up/catch support that they need.  Pupils are formally assessed using the Little Wandle assessment once they have completed the Little Wandle half termly planning.  Assessments are located on the Sdrive, curriclum design, phonics, Little Wandle assessments, Reception/Year 1 assessments.

At the end of Year 1 (June) pupils will be assessed using the National Assessment materials. The phonics screening check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It will identify the pupils who need extra help so they can be given support in reading. Any child not passing the check resit it in Year 2.

LINKS TO YEAR 1 & 2 CLASS PAGES

• At Temple Meadow we believe that engaging parents with their child’s phonic learning is key to their success.
• Parents have access to The Little Wandle website where they can access videos which supports them with how we teach phonics in school and supports them with the pronunications of the sounds. This can be found on the Little Wandle website, engaging parents, support for phonics.    (https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/)

Phonics club to give key pupils support with phonics.

Where possible learning can be taken outside. Outdoor phonic games can be used to engage children. Early years outdoor area to have accessible phonic resources and adults to facilitate activities involving phonics.