Phonics – Wood Ley Community Primary School Stowmarket

At Wood Ley, the children follow a phonics scheme called ‘Little Wandle’

We love the ‘Little Wandle’ approach to reading at Wood Ley because we know that it provides a high quality and engaging way to teach phonics and reading. Due to it being meticulously planned and every step thought through so carefully, all of the children are able to achieve. The programme allows our children to become confident, fluent readers who are thrive with their phonic skills. The children access whole-class phonics sessions and where misconceptions or difficulties arise, they access precision teaching sessions on a 1-1 or small group basis in addition to their teacher-led sessions.

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

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

A reading practice book. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently to you.

A sharing book. Your child may not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.

Reading practice 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.

Sharing book

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!

A progression overview of our programme can be found here:

Progression overview

When supporting your child’s phonological awareness at home, it is important to model the correct pronunciation. Within these videos, you will notice how the children don’t add an ‘uh’ sound at the end of each phoneme, so they say ‘t’ and not ‘tuh’.