Reading & Phonics

At Barlby Bridge School, we believe that all our children can become fluent. This is why we teach reading through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Systematic Synthetic Phonics Programme.

Little Wandle has been developed by Wandle and Little Sutton English Hubs and taken forward by Little Sutton Primary School and Wandle Learning Trust in partnership with other phonics and early reading experts.

We implement this SSP through their seven principles of effective practice, which are:

• Direct teaching in frequent, short bursts

• Consistency of approach

• Secure, systematic progression in phonics learning

• Maintaining pace of learning

• Providing repeated practice

• Application of phonics using matched decodable books

• Early identification of children at risk of falling behind, linked to the provision of effective keep-up support.

We begin the process of early reading in Nursery, when pupils are exposed to Phase 1, which is then cumulatively built upon across Reception and Year One.

When pupils are ready, they move on to the Year Two spelling scheme. Due to the pandemic, we have adapted when pupils learn each phase, to ensure the most secure of foundations are built before moving on.

Across Reception, Year One and Year Two, pupils are given same day one to one or group interventions by the class teacher. For pupils who have not passed the screening test in Year Three, we have targetted interventions using fully decodable books matching the Little Wandle scheme. This academic year, we have also timetabled daily practice of Phase Five and beyond for lower Key Stage Two, to ensure pupils are fluent and ready to access whole class reading as soon as possible.

Support for Parents

Please click here to visit the Little Wandle parents section of their website. Here you will find advice on how we teach early reading and how you can further support at home.

Beyond our SSP, we implement explicit fluency, vocabulary and strategy instruction through whole class reading of a deep, rich and ambitious reading spine.

We follow the Curriculum for Literacy Unity Partnership (CLUSP) reading curriculum, which has deliberately chosen texts with:

• Diverse representation

• Relevant social issues

• Big ethical questions

• Moral dilemmas

• Joyful literary experiences

• Aspirational themes and vocabulary

In each reading module, pupils and teachers read and engage with both the core text and bespoke supplementary texts to ensure pupils are exposed to a range of genres and disciplinary reading.

From Years 1 to 6, these sessions apply the following structure:

1. Explicit vocabulary instruction of tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary.

2. Teacher, paired, individual, or whole class reading of the text, using specific strategies to develop fluency, prosody and comprehension.

3. Teacher explanation of theme, skill or knowledge to be learned.

4. Teacher modelled example.

5. Teacher/pupil guided example.

6. Pupil’s individual task and challenge.

7. Live feedback, usually  under the visualiser.

Each session structure is guided through session specific task strips. Task design on these strips promotes deep thinking and reasoning. A range of question types promote conceptual fluency and there is a careful architecture of response frameworks.

See the attachment below to see some of the inspirational texts which form part of our literature spine.

For more information, please visit the CUSP website, here.