Phonics

We start teaching phonics using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised in Reception and continue with daily phonics teaching throughout Year 1 and into Year 2. At Woodston, we prioritise the teaching of phonics throughout Early Years and Key Stage One, so our children are able to acquire the key skills needed for reading. The curriculum supports children to build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move throughout the school. As a result, our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

Daily Keep-Up and Rapid Catch-Up

Frequent Keep-up lessons ensure every child learns to read.

• Any child who needs additional practice has frequent keep-up support, taught by a fully trained adult. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.
• We timetable additional catch-up phonics lessons for any child in Year 2 or Lower Key Stage 2 who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics Screening Check. These children urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use regular assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Keep-up resources – at pace.  

Phonics Screening Check

Towards the end of Year 1, the children will sit the Phonics Screening Check. This is a compulsory national assessment for all children in Year 1. The test comprises of a list of 40 words which assess the child’s ability to apply their phonic knowledge independently to a set of unfamiliar words.

Parental Engagement in Phonics

Parents are invited to attend phonic workshops in school, where they can learn how to support their child at home with reading and develop their own phonetic knowledge.

Please click this link For parents | Letters and Sounds for lots of resources to support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also lots of useful videos so you can see the structure of lessons within school.