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Phonics at Granton Primary School

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds

At Granton, phonics is taught everyday in Reception and Year 1 with an additional 3 reading sessions per week to help build fluency in decoding.

Why is learning to read so important? 

Reading is essential for all subject areas and improves life chances.
Positive attitudes to reading and choosing to read have academic, social and emotional benefits for children.

 How do children learn to read?

Phonics is the only route to decoding.
Learning to say the phonic sounds.
By blending phonic sounds to read words.
Increasing the child’s fluency in reading sounds, words and books.

 Why is it important for children to access fully decodable books?

Children must read books consistent with their phonic knowledge.
It is essential not to use other strategies to work out words (including guessing words, deducing meaning from pictures, grammar, context clues or whole word recognition).  
Books must be fully decodable and follow the Little Wandle scheme
Children need to read books in a progressive sequence until they can decode unfamiliar words confidently.
At Granton, children in Reception and Year 1 read 3 times a week, focusing on 3 different key skills: fluency, prosody and comprehension.

 What are the roles of Parents’ and Carers’ ?

Have a positive impact on their child’s reading.
Should model the importance of reading practice to develop fluency.
Children take home books they have read at school to re-read at home to build fluency.
There are two different types of books that pupils bring home: reading practice and books to share for pleasure.
Reading at home encourages a love of books, along with developing vocabulary and discussion.
Parents should use voices, expression, discuss unfamiliar vocabulary, talk about the pictures, and predict what might happen next.
Give positive yet informative feedback in the home reading diary at least 3 times a week

How can you support your child with reading?

Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.

 There are two types of reading book that your child will bring home:

A reading practice book (phonics book)

This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this mostly fluently and independently.

 A sharing book (reading for pleasure book). Your child will choose this book themselves based on their interests and will likely not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.

Please record reading comments in your child’s home school diary. These comments will be acknowledged daily.

Phonics cafes are carried out as an additional support for parents and pupils and are free to attend. Please check the ‘dates for diary’ letter on ParentMail sent every half term for more details.

 What are the best strategies when reading a practice/phonics book?

This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.

Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.

What are sharing books/reading for pleasure books?

In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together.

Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. 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. The main thing is that you have fun.

Programme overview for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds:

Programme Overview - Reception and Year 1

Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 1

This Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 1 video is designed to be shared with families by schools using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to he...

Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 2

This Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 2 video is designed to be shared with families to help them to support learning at home. Little Wandle Letters...

Phase 3 sounds taught in Reception Spring 1

This Phase 3 sounds taught in Reception Spring 1 video is designed to be shared with families to help them support the learning at home. Little Wandle Letter...

How we teach blending

This How we teach blending video is designed to be shared with families by schools using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to help them to support lea...

Quick guide to Alien words

This Alien words video is designed to be shared with families by schools using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised complete phonics programme to hel...

How we teach tricky words

This explanation of tricky words video is designed to be shared with families by schools using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised complete phonics ...