Phonics

"A love of reading is the biggest indicator of future academic success."

- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

At Meadows, we use 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised' as our scheme for the teaching and learning of Phonics. Little Wandle is the fastest growing Department for Education-validated phonics programme, already supporting over 5,000 schools to teach every child to learn to read!

The intent of Phonics at Meadows

At Meadows, we aspire for all our children to become fluent readers and writers who can aspire, grow and flourish across our curriculum offer. To achieve this, we aim for our children to:

• Build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
• Be equipped to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read.
• Read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure.
• See themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.
• Be taught through fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.

The implementation of Phonics at Meadows:

• We teach a synthetic phonics programme.
• We start teaching phonics in Nursery/Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression.
• We model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum.
• We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

Foundations for phonics in Nursery

We provide a balance of child-led and adult-led experiences for all children that meet the curriculum expectations for ‘Communication and language’ and ‘Literacy’. These include:

• sharing high-quality stories and poems
• learning a range of nursery rhymes and action rhymes
• activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending
• attention to high-quality language.

We ensure Nursery children are well prepared to begin learning grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and blending in Reception.

Daily phonics lessons in Reception and Year 1

We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.

Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term. We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress:

• Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
• Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.

Daily Keep-up lessons ensure every child learns to read:

• Any child who needs additional practice has daily Keep-up support, taught by a fully trained adult. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.
• We timetable daily phonics lessons for any child in Year 2 or 3 who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics screening check. These children urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Keep-up resources – at pace. 
• If any child in Year 3 to 6 has gaps in their phonic knowledge when reading or writing, we plan phonics ‘catch-up’ lessons to address specific reading/writing gaps. These short, sharp lessons last 10 minutes and take place at least three times a week.

Ensuring Individual Success

At Meadows, we ensure that children who are not currently able to learn successfully are placed in an appropriately-staged group. This approach allows us to provide targeted instruction that meets each child's specific needs, preventing frustration and disengagement. The placement of these children remains under constant review, and we implement interventions to ensure they catch up as rapidly as possible. By continuously monitoring their progress and adjusting their group placement as needed, we can provide the support necessary for each child to succeed in their phonics learning journey. This dynamic and responsive approach helps all children achieve their full potential in reading.

Separating children in phonics instruction based on their stage of learning is crucial for effective reading development. Research consistently shows that systematic phonics instruction, which involves teaching letter-sound correspondences in a structured sequence, is highly effective in helping children learn to read. By grouping children according to their phonics stage, teachers can tailor instruction to meet each child's specific needs, ensuring that they receive the appropriate level of challenge and support.

For instance, children who are just beginning to learn phonics benefit from focusing on simple letter-sound correspondences, while more advanced learners can tackle complex phonetic patterns. This targeted approach helps prevent frustration and disengagement, as children are not overwhelmed by material that is too difficult or bored by content that is too easy. Additionally, small group instruction allows for more individualised attention and immediate feedback, which further enhances learning outcomes.

Teaching reading

We teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. These:

• are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups of approximately six children
• use books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments and book matching grids on pages 11–20 of ‘Application of phonics to reading’
• are monitored by the class teacher, who rotates and works with each group on a regular basis.

Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:

• decoding
• prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
• comprehension: teaching children to understand the text.

In Reception these sessions start in Week 4. Children who are not yet decoding have daily additional blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.

In Year 2 and 3, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books.

Home reading

The decodable reading practice book is taken home to ensure success is shared with the family. Reading for pleasure books also go home for parents to share and read to children.

Assessment of Phonics at Meadows:

Children’s progress in phonics is continually reviewed through assessment. This is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support as soon as they need it.

Assessment for learning is used:

• daily within class to identify children needing Keep-up support
• weekly in the Review lesson to assess gaps, address these immediately and secure fluency of GPCs, words and spellings.

Summative assessment is used:

• approximately every sixth week to assess progress, to identify gaps in learning that need to be addressed, to identify any children needing additional support and to plan the Keep-up support that they need.
• By SLT and scrutinised through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessment tracker, to narrow attainment gaps between different groups of children and so that any additional support for teachers can be put into place.
• The Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised placement assessment is used with any child new to the school to quickly identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan provide appropriate extra teaching.

Statutory assessment

Children in Year 1 sit the Phonics screening check. Any child not passing the check re-sits it in Year 2. We provide an annual workshop for Parents and Carers to support their understanding of this process.

Ongoing assessment for catch-up

Children in Year 2 to 6 are assessed through:

• their teacher’s ongoing formative assessment
• the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds placement assessment the appropriate half-termly assessments.

Pure Sounds - Helpful Videos

Resources for Parents

Phase 2 Sounds taught in Autumn 1 of Reception

Phase 2 Sounds taught in Autumn 2 of Reception

Phase 3 Sounds taught in Reception Spring 1

Phase 5 Sounds taught in Year 1 

How to help your child recognise sounds:

To help your child learn new letters and sounds, use multisensory techniques, consistent routines, and explicit instruction that connects sounds to symbols.

Here’s a breakdown of proven strategies to support letter-sound learning:

🔤 Start with Explicit Instruction

• Introduce one phoneme and grapheme at a time: Focus on clear pronunciation and visual representation.
• Use direct modelling: Say the sound, show the letter, and explain how they connect.

✋ Engage Multiple Senses

• Say it, see it, write it: Have children say the sound, trace the letter, and write it while repeating the phoneme. Rainbow letters
• Use manipulatives: Magnetic letters, sand trays, and letter tiles reinforce tactile learning.
• Air writing and sky tracing: These kinaesthetic activities help solidify grapheme formation.

📚 Use Decodable Words/Texts

• Highlight target graphemes: Use coloured markers or stickers to draw attention to new sounds.

🧩 Make It Playful

• Sound scavenger hunts: Find objects that start with a target phoneme.
• Grapheme bingo: Match sounds to letters in a fun, game-based format.
• Mystery grapheme: Give clues about a sound and let children guess the letter.

💬 Encourage Verbal Practice

• Segment and blend aloud: Practice saying words slowly and blending them back together.
• Use mirrors: Let children watch their mouth movements to understand articulation.

Helping your child to oral blend:

To help your child orally blend simple words, focus on playful repetition, clear sound modelling, and engaging listening games. These strategies build phonemic awareness and make blending is fun and intuitive.

Here are some effective, research-backed tips to support oral blending:

🗣️ Model Slow, Clear Sound Blending

• Stretch the sounds: Say each phoneme slowly and clearly (e.g., /c/…/a/…/t/) and then blend them together naturally: “cat.”
• Use your voice only: Avoid showing letters—oral blending is about hearing and combining sounds without visual cues.

🎵 Play Listening and Sound Games

• Sound hunts: Say a word in segmented sounds (e.g., /d/ /o/ /g/) and ask the child to guess the word.
• Mystery word: Use a puppet or toy to “say” segmented sounds and let the child blend them to discover the word.

🧩 Start with Simple CVC Words

• Focus on consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words like “mat,” “sit,” “dog,” which are easier to blend.
• Avoid complex blends or digraphs until the child is confident with basic phonemes

🧠 Use Repetition and Daily Practice

• Daily blending practice: Just 5–10 minutes a day can make a big difference.
• Repeat familiar words: Repetition builds confidence and fluency.

🎯 Use Visual and Physical Cues

• Finger tapping: Tap one finger for each sound, then swipe to blend.
• Sound boxes: Use physical objects (like blocks or counters) to represent each sound and push them together as you blend.

📚 Incorporate into Storytime, Songs and Routines

• Read books with simple, decodable words and pause to blend sounds aloud.
• Sing songs that emphasize phonemes and rhymes to reinforce sound patterns.
• Build it into your routine e.g. Go and get your c-oa-t or Go and get your sh-oo-s

💡 Encourage and Celebrate Attempts

• Praise effort, not just accuracy. Celebrate when they try to blend—even if the word isn’t perfect.
• Avoid correcting too quickly; instead, repeat the sounds and let them try again.

Helping your child to blend:

To help your child learn how to read simple words, focus on phonics-based instruction, daily practice with decodable texts, and playful repetition using sight words and sound blending. Make reading fun and interactive to build confidence and fluency.

Here’s a detailed guide with proven strategies:

🔤 Start with Phonics and Letter Sounds

• Use phoneme blending: Practice combining sounds like /c/ /a/ /t/ to make “cat.”
• Introduce CVC words: Focus on simple consonant-vowel-consonant words like “dog,” “sun,” “hat.”

📚 Use Decodable Books

• Encourage sounding out unfamiliar words rather than guessing from pictures.
• Re-read familiar books to build fluency and confidence.

👀 Introduce High-Frequency Sight Words

• Reinforce tricky words like “the,” “and,” “is,” which don’t always follow phonics rules.
• Use flashcards, games, and songs to reinforce recognition.
• Practice reading sight words in context within simple sentences.

✋ Make It Multisensory

• Trace letters in sand or shaving cream: Connect sound, sight, and touch.
• Use magnetic letters or tiles: Build words physically while saying them aloud.
• Air writing and finger tapping: Reinforce grapheme-phoneme connections.

🎲 Play Reading Games

• Word matching: Match spoken words to written ones.
• Sound scavenger hunts: Find objects that start with a target sound.
• Reading bingo: Use simple words and pictures to make reading playful.
• Pairs game: Find the picture to match the word.

🗣️ Practice Daily with Encouragement

• Read together for 10–15 minutes a day.
• Let your child choose books to build interest.
• Celebrate effort and progress, not just correctness.

🧠 Build Vocabulary and Comprehension

• Talk about word meanings and ask questions about stories.
• Use picture books to support understanding.
• Encourage storytelling and retelling to reinforce language skills.

Online Games for Children

• PhonicsPlay - Phonics Play has some games you can access for free. The free games specifically support the reading real and alien words.
• Decodable comics from PhonicsPlay - For variety in your child's reading! 
• Phonics Bloom - Phonics Games and Resources
• Phonics & Stuff - Phonics Games and Resources
• Teach Your Monster: - Free Phonics, Reading and Mathematics Games - 
• Topmarks Phonics Games - Lots of games and resources to make phonics fun! 

Please speak to your child's teacher to see which games and at which level will be most appropriate to support your child

Tricky Words

Alongside each phase of our Phonics Programme, we teach tricky words. Tricky words cannot be read or spelt using our knowledge of our sounds as they do not follow the rules. We identify these as tricky words and ‘notice’ the tricky bit in our teaching and learning.

Below are tricky words which your child will learn in school. 

reception tricky words.pdf

year one tricky words.pdf

 To support your child's learning of tricky words:

• Tracing, copying and writing of tricky words in various media will increase recall.
• Put tricky words on word strips and, each day, move them through three containers labelled ‘words I’m learning’, ‘words I know’ and ‘word bank’, as the child correctly reads them.
• Play ‘Mix and Fix’: make the tricky word with magnetic letters or letter tiles, check it with a model, then mix the letters up and fix them up again. Repeat!
• Play ‘Word Detective’: show a tricky word written on a whiteboard and ask the child to read and orally spell the word. Turn the board away and erase a letter. Show the child and ask them to identify the missing letter. The missing letter should then be written in again.
• Create meaningful opportunities for your child to read or write his tricky words in sentences. Play memory games such as Snap, Concentration, Bingo or Go Fish with tricky words on cards. Hangman is a particularly effective game for letter sequence recall in tricky words.
• On Education City for EYFS play ‘Match me if you can’ and ‘I See Words’. On Education City for Year One, play ‘Ready or Not’, ‘Sten and Klara’s Sports Day’, ‘Stig’s Tree Adventure’ and ‘Toy Museum’. 

Letter Formation

Here are some resources to support parents and carers with their child's letter formation:

handwriting map.pdf

little wandle letter formation.pdf

How to Form Capital Letters Written Guide

The Impact of Phonics at Meadows

Quality teaching of Phonics at Meadows results in:

• Children being able to master phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
• Pupils becoming confident readers and developing this a crucial life skill
• Pupils seeing themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose
• Above local and national averages in the 2023 to 2024 Phonics Screen.
• 70% of our Year Sixes reaching 'above or expected' in the 2023 to 2024 SATs.