In Year 1 the children continue to have daily phonics lessons. They are taught up to the end of Phase 5, which enables them to read fluently and apply their phonic knowledge to their writing.

In Year 2 and Year 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 Year 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.

Children in Reception and KS1 take part in 3 reading practice sessions a week based on their phonic knowledge. They read a fully matched decodable reader, in a small group. These sessions follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised model. The children then take home the same book on the Friday of that week to share with their family. This helps to further develop fluency and allows the children to share their successes.

In Early Years, a nursery rhyme is also shared with the children and parents on a weekly basis to help in the development of communication.

Children who are not yet blending take part in small blending sessions to help develop this skill before they are ready to read books.

A sharing book is also sent home on a weekly basis. In order to become a life long reader it is important children are 'read to' and 'read for pleasure'. This sharing book is chosen by the child for them to enjoy at home with an adult. It is not one that they can read fully but one which can be read 'to' them or 'with' them. We encourage families to discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters and explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is to have fun!

Once the children become fluent readers they are able to select one of the 'banded' books which are beyond our phonics scheme and which they can take home and enjoy with an adult.