Phonics
Key Curriculum Documents
Phonics and Spelling Curriculum Progression
Phonics and early reading at Woodlands
At Woodlands, we believe that learning to read confidently and with enjoyment is one of the most important foundations we can give every pupil.
Phonics teaches pupils how the sounds in spoken language are represented by letters or groups of letters. Pupils learn to recognise these relationships and use them to read unfamiliar words by blending sounds together. They also learn to segment spoken words into sounds to support spelling.
Alongside phonics, we develop pupils’ vocabulary, comprehension and love of reading through high-quality stories, poems, rhymes and regular opportunities to talk about books.
Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised
We teach phonics and early reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. This is a systematic synthetic phonics programme with a clearly structured progression from Nursery to Year 2.
Pupils are taught to:
- recognise graphemes and say the phonemes they represent
- blend phonemes together to read words
- segment words into phonemes to support spelling
- read increasingly unfamiliar words accurately and automatically
- read tricky words
- apply their phonics knowledge when reading and writing
Phonics in Nursery
In Nursery, pupils follow Little Wandle Foundations for Phonics.
Through daily Rhyme time and regular Tuning into sounds sessions, pupils develop their listening, phonological and phonemic awareness and oral blending. They learn to notice rhyme, rhythm, syllables, alliteration and individual sounds within spoken words.
Tuning into sounds begins in Autumn 2 and introduces pupils to sounds through short, engaging games. Pupils hear and copy sounds, listen to orally segmented words and blend sounds together to identify spoken words. These experiences provide secure foundations for the formal teaching of phonics in Reception.
Phonics in Reception and Year 1
Pupils in Reception and Year 1 have a daily phonics lesson.
They are taught new grapheme–phoneme correspondences, known as GPCs, and regularly revisit previously taught sounds and words. A GPC is the relationship between a phoneme, which is a sound, and the grapheme or letters used to represent it.
Pupils also learn tricky words. These contain a part that cannot yet be read using the GPCs taught at that point in the programme. As pupils learn more of the alphabetic code, many previously tricky words become fully decodable.
Pupils are assessed every six weeks so that books can be matched accurately to their secure phonic knowledge and any additional teaching can be planned promptly. Pupils who need further support receive carefully targeted Daily Keep-up teaching.
Reading practice
Pupils have regular opportunities to apply their phonics by reading fully decodable books that are closely matched to their secure phonic knowledge.
Reading practice sessions focus on:
- decoding – reading words accurately
- prosody – reading with appropriate expression, stress and intonation
- comprehension – understanding and discussing the text
Repeated practice helps pupils develop accuracy, confidence and fluency.
Phonics and spelling in Year 2
At the beginning of Year 2, pupils complete a review of Phase 5 phonics.
During Autumn 2, they move on to Bridge to Spelling, which helps pupils complete their understanding of the alphabetic code and prepares them for the Year 2 spelling programme.
From the spring term, pupils are taught the Little Wandle Year 2 Spelling units. These build on their phonics knowledge and provide coverage of the National Curriculum spelling requirements for Year 2. Pupils who have not yet secured the earlier stages of phonics continue to receive carefully matched teaching and additional support.
Supporting your child at home
Families play an important part in helping pupils become confident readers.
You can support your child by:
- listening to them read their matched reading book regularly
- encouraging them to sound out and blend unfamiliar words
- allowing them time to work out a word rather than telling them immediately
- practising the sounds and words shared by school
- reading stories to your child and discussing the pictures, characters and events
- praising their effort, confidence and perseverance
Children may also bring home a sharing book. This is a book for families to read and enjoy together and is not expected to be fully decodable by the child.
Little Wandle resources for families
The Little Wandle parent resources include useful guidance and videos demonstrating how sounds are pronounced and how phonics and reading are taught.
Little Wandle Parent Resources
The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
The statutory Phonics Screening Check takes place during June in Year 1. It is a short, individual check completed with a familiar adult.
Pupils read 40 words: 20 real words and 20 made-up or pseudo-words. The made-up words check that pupils can apply their phonics knowledge rather than relying on words they already recognise.
The check helps identify whether pupils have learned phonic decoding to the expected standard and whether any further support is needed. Pupils who do not yet meet the expected standard normally complete the check again in Year 2 while continuing to receive appropriate phonics teaching.
Little Wandle Phonics Check handout
