Phonics at Springfield Academy

At Springfield Academy, we believe all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we have decided to teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, a systematic and synthetic phonics programme which comes highly recommended from a variety of schools. We start teaching phonics in Reception and follow the Little Wandle progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.

How we teach phonics

• In the nursery, children follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised ‘Foundations for Phonics’ guidance. The focus is on daily oral blending and language development through high quality stories and rhymes.
• In Reception and Year 1, children follow the progression within Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme. Phonics is taught daily and there is a review session on a Friday.
• Phonics starts in Reception in week 2 to ensure the children make a strong start.
• By the end of Reception, children will have been taught up to the end of Phase 4.
• By the end of Year 1, children will have been taught up to the end of Phase 5.
• Reception lessons start at 10 minutes, with daily additional oral blending – increasing to 30 minutes as soon as possible.
• Year 1 lessons are 30 minutes long.
• In Year 2 and 3, phonic lessons are taught daily to children where appropriate – following the model of Little Wandle but plugging specific gaps identified through assessment.
• In Year 2 to 6, there are planned phonic ‘catch-up’ sessions following a set model to address specific reading/writing gaps. These are short, sharp sessions lasting 10 minutes in length and taking place at least three times a week.

Reading practice sessions

• Children across Reception, Year 1, Year 2 (and beyond if appropriate) apply their phonics knowledge by using a full matched decodable reader in a reading practice session.
• These sessions happen three times a week.
• The sessions follow the model set out in Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
• In Reception these sessions start in week 4. Children who are not decoding, do a little blending lesson, following the model set out in Little Wandle Letters and Sound Revised.

How do we assess phonic knowledge?

• In Reception and Year 1, at the end of each week there is a review session which recaps the learning. There are also whole review weeks (pre-planned and bespoke review weeks to address gaps identified by the class teacher’s ongoing formative assessment).
• Children identified in Reception and Year 1 as in danger of falling behind are immediately identified and daily ‘keep up’ sessions are put in place – sessions follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
• In Reception and Year 1, the children are assessed at the end of every half term using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessment tracker.
• The children in Year 1 sit the Phonics Screening Check in the Summer term.
• Children who do not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, will re-sit this in Year 2.
• Children who are in Year 2 to 6 and need ‘catch up’ sessions are assessed through teacher’s ongoing formative assessment as well as half termly summative assessments.

If you are a parent and would like more information about how to support your child with phonics at home, please follow this link to find the Reception and Year 1 overview as well as videos of the sound pronunciations, letter formation sheets and other helpful resources.

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

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised 2021: Programme progression Reception and Year 1 overviews