Phonics

At Cheam Park Farm, we in nurturing a passion for reading. We are committed to helping all our children become confident and skilled readers and writers. 

What is phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children the relationships between the letters (graphemes) they see and the sounds (phonemes) they hear when reading and writing.

Why Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised?

We teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds draws on the latest research into how children learn best, how to ensure learning stays in children’s long term memory and how best to enable children to apply their learning to become highly competent readers.  

Here are some of its key features:

• Structured and Systematic: The program follows a clear sequence, introducing new sounds and building on previous learning step-by-step. This ensures a strong foundation for future reading success.

• Engaging Activities: Lessons are designed to be fun and interactive, keeping children motivated and engaged as they learn new sounds.

• Focus on Blending: Children learn to blend individual sounds together to form words, a crucial skill for reading fluency.

• Decodable Books: Children practice their phonics skills by reading books that are specifically designed to match the sounds they have learned.

• Regular Review: The program includes regular review sessions to help children solidify their learning and identify any areas that need additional practice. The program also includes half termly assessments to ensure children read appropriately matched books to children’s phonics ability and to inform future planning. 

How do we teach phonics?

• We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme from Nursery through Year 2 and into Key Stage 2 where needed.

• Nursery: Children develop their listening and speaking skills through fun stories, rhymes, and daily oral blending activities (sounding out words) using the "Foundations for Phonics" guidance.

• Reception: Phonics lessons begin in the first few weeks. By the end of Reception, children will have learned the sounds for most letters (up to phase 4) and be able to blend them to read simple words.

• Year 1: Children continue to learn new sounds and practice blending them to read more complex words (up to phase 5).

• Year 2: Children review and strengthen their phonics knowledge throughout the year, using the "Grow the Code" grapheme mat (a phonics reference tool). This ensures a solid foundation for future reading success.

• Key Stage 2: Children who are still working on their phonics knowledge have Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Catch Up phonics sessions and read Little Wandle phonic books at an age appropriate level. 

If you wish to find out more about Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme then please visit their parent page: https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/ 

We value reading as a crucial life skill and it is at the heart of our curriculum. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.