At Batheaston Church School we teach synthetic phonics throughout the school. We follow the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds‘ programme which provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching phonics in EYFS and KS1. Our aim is for all children to develop fluent word reading skills and have a good foundation in spelling by the end of KS1. The teaching of phonics begins in Reception, where the children will progress through the Phase 2 GPC’s (Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence) in order (see link below). They will use their knowledge of the alphabetic code to blend sounds to form words. In the Spring term we move through the Phase 3 GPC’s and by Summer Phase 4.
In Year One the children will begin with the consolidation of Phase 3 and 4 before moving onto Phase 5 GPC’s. Our fidelity to one scheme and approach ensures consistency across the school where all adults working with children have been trained and are all passionate about giving our children the best possible start to their reading journey. Timely and frequent assessments ensure that children ‘keep up’ and gaps are plugged through targeted and precise intervention support. For more information about the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme please go to their website. https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Click on the links below for useful documents:
Year One Phonics Screening Check
In 2011-2012 the Government introduced the statutory checking of phonics for Year One children. The Year One Phonics Screening Check is a national check of children’s phonics knowledge that all children in England are required to complete. The check comprises of a mixture of real and nonsense words which children have to decode/read. The check takes place at the end of Year One.