Phonics                                

At Brooklands Primary School we believe that for all our children to become fluent readers and writers, phonics must be taught through a systematic and structured phonics programme and there must be consistency in implementation across the whole school. 

We use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds (revised) to plan and provide daily engaging phonics lessons. In phonics, we teach children that the letters of the alphabet represent a different sound, that these can be used in a variety of combinations and are put together to make words. The children learn to recognise all of the different sounds at speed and identify the different ways that they might be represented.

Our build up to phonics teaching starts in Nursery with lots of work on differentiating between sounds, playing games involving recognising sounds in the environment, and lots of stories and nursery rhymes. When they start Reception, the children start learning the Phase 2 sounds in a particular order, and this builds up quickly to blending to read words and segmenting for spelling.

Little Wandle phonics follows a very specific sequence that allows our children to build on their previous phonic knowledge and master specific phonic strategies as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words that they might discover. We also model these strategies in shared reading and writing both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on the development of language skills, recognising the importance of talk, and of building a love of stories and reading.

Alongside our phonics teaching, we provide the children with a language rich environment, and read high quality texts and stories every single day to build the children's comprehension skills, vocabulary, and of course a love of reading!

If you are a parent and would like more information about how to support your child with phonics at home, please visit the Parent section of the Little Wandle website where you will find useful videos, information and resources. If you have any further questions, or want to know more specifically how you can support your child please speak to your child's class teacher. 

Little Wandle - Information for Parents

How do we assess phonic knowledge and ensure children stay on track?

• Children are assessed half termly formally, and informally every lesson. 
• Daily Keep-up sessions are implemented from the start, and Rapid catch-up sessions put in place for any children who need extra support to stay on track. 
• Any children assessed to be falling behind are immediately identified and tutoring sessions are put in place. Information is stored on the assessment trackers. 
• The children in Year 1 take the Phonics Screening Check in the summer term.
• Children who do not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, will attempt this again in the summer term of Year 2. 
• Children who are in Year 3 and upwards and need ‘catch up’ sessions are assessed by the reading team and placed into small challenge groups for interventions and additional support.