Phonics at New Milton Infant School

‘A love of reading is the biggest indicator of future academic success’

(OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

Good literacy changes everything.  We know that reading and writing is crucial to all learning and, alongside high quality talk, underpins all of the subjects we teach at New Milton Infant School. We know that children are successful when they grow with good literacy skills that open up a world of learning.  We believe that all children at our school can become fluent readers and value reading is the key to success.  

At New Milton Infant School, Early Reading is taught through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.

To be able to read, children need to be taught an efficient strategy to decode words. That strategy is phonics. Phonic decoding skills must be practised until children become automatic and fluent reading is established. 

We prioritise the teaching of phonics and teach phonics and spelling daily across the school. It is vitally important that children review and revisit Grapheme Phoneme Correspondences (GPCs) and words, daily, weekly and across terms and years, in order to move this knowledge into the children's long term memory. Our consistent approach and fidelity to the Little Wandle programme ensures that children are given the best possible foundation for reading, writing and language skills. 

Expectations in the Little Wandle programme are aspirational but achievable. Children who are not keeping up are given immediate additional practise through targeted and personalised ‘keep up’ sessions. 

Progression

Please click on the link at the bottom of the page for the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme progression for Reception and Year One.

How to Help at Home

We expect all of our children to read to an adult at home at least 3 times per week. Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a vital impact on their reading journey by continuing their practise at home.

Each week, your child will bring home a reading practise book.

This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level and phonic ability. If your child is reading it with little help, please do not 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 cannot read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.

Support Videos

The Little Wandle website has resources to help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters.   There are also useful videos, including the correct pronunciation of each sound, so that you can see how they are taught at school and feel confident about supporting their reading at home. Please click on the link below to access this information