Phonics – Little Wandle

How we teach early reading and why our children need to reread their books?

The successful teaching of reading requires practice. Children need time to read their fully decodable books aloud so they can grow automaticity and accuracy. We ensure our children are explicitly taught prosody (expression) and comprehension, to ensure every child can read every word in the book confidently.

The Reading framework 2023 is clear that ‘A vital element teaching reading is the early and successful teaching of phonics, complemented throughout the school years by teaching that promotes fluency and comprehension.’

It also outlines that children should:

practise reading ‘decodable’ phrases, sentences and books that match the sounds and exception words they already know re-read these to build fluency.
Research tells us that ‘fluency is the ability to read accurately, quickly, expressively, with good phrasing, AND with good comprehension’ (Razinski, 2009).

Little Wandle is the phonic scheme we use at Threemilestone School. Their pedagogy is based on the key principle that teaching children using the three reads model helps to develop fluent and expressive reading.

But why three reads and are they all important?

Each of the three Little Wandle reading practice sessions is a dedicated 20 minutes of reading. Your child’s teacher ‘tap in’ to hear every child read without any distraction three times a week. Every child gets individual attention, and each session has a very clear focus. Their language learning is supported by the introduction of key vocabulary.

Read 1: decoding

Read 1 has a clear focus on applying phonic knowledge to word reading. Children start to develop some automaticity as they read the book for the first time. They read the whole book independently and the teacher listens to each child in turn and gives support, encouragement and instant feedback to address any errors.

Read 2: prosody

Read 2 teaches children to read with prosody, so that they learn to read aloud with appropriate meaning, stress and intonation. Teachers discuss the text with children as they explore how to bring the meaning of words, punctuation and characters’ feelings alive as they read aloud. In this session the teacher gives children an example of what fluent reading sounds like but, more importantly, they help the children think about the choices they can make as they read aloud: whether to read quietly, slowly, which words to emphasise and why. Teaching prosody is teaching comprehension and helps children on their way towards fluency.

Read 3: comprehension

The final reading session explores comprehension. Children should be automatically applying their decoding skills to read with greater accuracy and automaticity. Teachers and children are able to engage in meaningful book talk where characters, feelings and themes are discussed. Teachers can extend children’s understanding to develop deeper thinking and children have time to connect texts to their own experiences.

How can I support my child’s reading journey?

Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home. There are two types of reading book that your child will bring home:

1.     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. Please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading. 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.

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

Please have a look at the parent area of the Little Wandle website. Here you will find support with phonics, videos to show how we teach and supporting reading at home.

Ensuring reading for pleasure

‘Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s success.’ (OECD 2002)

‘The will influences the skill and vice versa.’ (OECD 2010)

We value reading for pleasure highly and work hard as a school to grow our Reading for Pleasure pedagogy.

We read to children every day. We choose these books carefully as we want children to experience a wide range of books, including books that reflect the children at Threemilestone School and our local community as well as books that open windows into other worlds and cultures.
Every classroom has an inviting book corner that encourages a love for reading. We curate these books and talk about them to entice children to read a wide range of books.
In Reception, children have access to the reading corner every day in their free flow time and the books are continually refreshed.
Children from Reception onwards have a home reading record. The parent/carer records comments to share with the adults in school and the adults will write in this on a regular basis to ensure communication between home and school.
As the children progress through the school, they are encouraged to write their own comments and keep a list of the books/authors that they have read.
Children across the school have regular opportunities to engage with a wide range of Reading for Pleasure events (book fairs, author visits and workshops, national events etc).

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.
We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised parents’ resources to engage our families and share information about phonics, the benefits of sharing books, how children learn to blend and other aspects of our provision, both online and through workshops.

Reading for pleasure books also go home for parents/carers to share and read to children. We share the research behind the importance and impact of sharing quality children’s books with parents/carers through workshops, leaflets and the Everybody read! Resources.

Assessment is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support as soon as they need it.

•     Assessment for learning is used:

o   daily within class to identify children needing Keep-up support

o   weekly in the Review lesson to assess gaps, address these immediately and secure fluency of GPCs, words and spellings. 

•       Summative assessment for Reception (EYFS) and Year 1 is used:

o   every six weeks 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.

o   by Reading leader/AHT 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. 

•     Fluency assessments measure children’s accuracy and reading speed in short one-minute assessments. They are used:

o   in Year 1, when children are reading the Phase 5 set 3, 4 and 5 books

o   with children following the Rapid Catch-up programme in Years 2 to 6, when they are reading the Phase 5 set 3, 4 and 5 books

o   to assess when children are ready to exit their programme. For Year 1 children, this is when they read the final fluency assessment at 60–70+ words per minute. Older children can exit the Rapid Catch-up programme when they read the final fluency assessment at 90+ words per minute. At these levels, children should have sufficient fluency to tackle any book at age-related expectations. After exiting their programme, children do not need to read any more fully decodable books.

•       A placement assessment is used:

o   with any child new to the school in Reception (EYFS) and Year 1 to quickly identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan and provide appropriate extra teaching. 

•       The Rapid Catch-up assessment is used

o   with any child new to the school in Year 2 and above to quickly identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan and provide appropriate extra teaching.

How we prioritise reading @ TMS

Reading is a priority at Threemilestone School. We have a shared understanding that children who can read do well, and conversely, those who can’t read, won’t do well. Our aim is that children leave TMS as confident and independent readers, who have the skills to decode, as well as to comprehend both fiction and nonfiction texts with a lifelong love of reading.

• Reading always has priority in the Threemilestone School’s development plan, and the importance of reading is frequently shared with staff and governors through training and INSET and shared with parents/carers through website posts and family workshops. Reading, and Phonics and Early Reading, both have a  development plan of their own, separate from other aspects of English. 
• Children in EYFS and KS1 read Little Wandle scheme books which are entirely matched to the phonics programme we follow. There are three 20 minute Little Wandle Reading Practice sessions each week; the first has a focus on decoding, the second on prosody and the final session is on comprehension. An adult, including TAs from KS2, lead reading groups over the three days.
• Any child in the school who is reading below the purple book band is also assessed and placed within the Little Wandle Rapid catch up programme which is led by teachers and TAs.
• Class reading time (story time) happens everyday in a timetabled slot. These ‘class readers’ are tracked in the Reading@TMS document and all class readers have been agreed by the English team. These sessions are where teachers model fluency, expression and development of vocabulary, and promote the love of reading. 
• All children in KS2 participate in time tabled Reading comprehension sessions 3 times a week learning from a 100 word text each day. This is highlighted in the Reading@TMS document. 
• All children in KS2 have a daily timetabled session of independent reading (Reading Club). This is when children read a book matched to their ability, and staff hear children read to them either individually or in groups. 
• Family workshops (including Zoom meetings) are planned so that parents/carers have an understanding of how we teach phonics and early reading, a love of reading and also reading comprehension in KS2.
• There is a sense of urgency in ensuring that the bottom 20% of readers make accelerated progress. Ongoing Little Wandle assessments allow teachers to provide keep-up interventions in EYFS and KS1 and aid the identification of our target children within a phonics lesson. The Little Wandle rapid catch up programme is introduced for all children in KS2 who are reading below purple book band. These children are also a priority as daily readers to an adult.
• Little Wandle Assessments are carried out at the end of each half term to check children are making expected progress, and highlighting where keep up is needed.
• TMS has invested in new books in KS2 for Love of reading which are available for all children.
• In EYFS and KS1 Little Wandle reading books are matched entirely to the phonics programme. Children also choose a sharing book from the class book corner to take home each week.
• In all classrooms, there is a designated reading area with books based on the class’s STAR learning topic, and in KS2 levelled books for children to access easily. 
• A reading spine has been created to ensure children are exposed to a range of authors, text types and books they may not have seen before. This ensures the continuity of quality texts throughout the school.
• Literacy Shed Plus has been purchased to allow (KS2) teachers to access relevant, quality texts which are topic and year specific alongside providing age appropriate questions to go alongside the texts.
• Every child in KS2 is listened to and questioned at least once a fortnight through one to one reading with an adult.
• Reading books in the school are banded for those who have completed Little Wandle, and children are assessed on running records to progress through the bands.
• A reading shed has been purchased by the PTFA as an outside area on the KS2 playground where the children can enjoy reading.

Promoting a love of reading

Threemilestone School has a systematic approach to reading and lots of activities to promote engagement throughout the year to ensure that we promote the love of reading’ at every opportunity.

• • The leadership team and English team have timetabled in daily sessions so that children read, and are read to, daily.
  • Class reading time (story time) is a positive part of the day which children and staff enjoy. These books have been selected to expose the children to a wide range of high quality texts and to promote the love of reading.
  • Reading is visible in corridors and in classes, with popular series being promoted in corridors, as well as books which promote PSHE, diversity and  protected characteristics.

• Reading is regularly promoted on the school website

• Reading is prioritised in TMS through weekly and monthly celebrations. This happens through Reader of the Week in each year group from EYFS-Year 6. Reading assemblies take place weekly. In KS2 the Author of the Half Term is celebrated and shared, and in EYFS/KS1 each teacher shares their  favourite book on a half term theme
• Books of recommended reads for each year group are circulated to staff and parents/carers, and are also on the website. Staff have in-depth knowledge of authors and series for the year group they are teaching.
• The school celebrates reading in the annual World Book Day
• There is an annual ‘Bedtime Story’ event for EYFS and KS1 children. 
• Children can choose to take home a fiction or non-fiction book as well as a school reading book.
• All staff prioritise reading in the classroom and promote and celebrate children reading. They share their love of reading through displays, discussion and through the teachers favourite books on website.
• The reading comprehension sessions, which happen 3 times a week in KS2  using a mix of non-fiction texts, fiction, poetry and song lyrics to expose children to all types of text type. In these sessions, the same text is used throughout the week, which allows children to fully engage, enjoy and understand the texts. 
• The Poetry spine allows teachers to pick and choose from age appropriate poets that children can enjoy studying.
• Workshops are attended focusing on love of reading including research and the role that parents/carers can play in supporting lifelong love of reading.

How we ensure children are making progress

• Threemilestone School has many systems in place to ensure that all our children make good or better progression reading.
• Little Wandle phonics programme is followed rigorously from day 1 in EYFS, and throughout year 1. Little Wandle also continues into year 2 and beyond  if necessary.
• Little Wandle reading books match exactly to the phonics programme and therefore the children’s progression.
• Half termly assessments are carried out to ensure children are making expected progress, and to identify quickly children who are not so that keep up intervention is provided; this may be within a group or individually. Reading leads work with the class teacher to identify at risk children.
  SEND Little Wandle assessments are being used for all children with bespoke programmes to ensure even small steps are being recorded to ensure progression.
• Year 1 children complete the Phonics Screening Check.
• Progress in reading is tracked using NfER termly assessments in year 2 and KS2.
• Children who are on the record of need are screened termly on the 1st 300 high frequency words. This then informs interventions, precision teaching and learning plans.
  Beyond Little Wandle children who are in the bottom 20% are a focus in the termly Reading
• Progress meetings following NFERs, and  interventions and progress is being checked by the SENCO.
• In KS2, there is a running record assessment in place for when children move book bands and all staff are trained in this.
• In KS2, in lesson live marking forms assessment for teachers planning throughout the week and over the course of the term. Teachers target the lowest 20% of pupils in these sessions.
• Progression of skills in areas of comprehension,  as well as the question types and question stems, are seen in the Reading@TMS document.

How we match books to phonics ability

At Threemilestone School, we understand the importance of children reading books that are carefully matched to their reading ability.

• Little Wandle reading books match exactly to the phonics programme via half termly assessments. Three reading practice sessions take place each week (decoding, prosody and comprehension) before the children take the book home to read at approximately 95% fluency.
• Little Wandle assessments are completed half termly which identify the correct reading book level for each child, and also at the end of a phase in rapid catch up..
• When children have completed Little Wandle fluency, children continue through the book bands. 
• Children complete a running record assessment before moving onto a new band. 
• Staff and parents/carers understand that to make progress the book must not be too easy or too hard. If children are guessing through pictures, or using their time on decoding, their progress will be inhibited.

How we teach phonics

At Threemilestone School we understand the importance of teaching phonics right from the start of schooling

• Little Wandle is the phonics programme we teach at TMS and we begin on the children’s first day at school
• The children are introduced to four new sounds (grapheme/phoneme correspondences ~  GPCs) each week, with a review lesson on a Friday
• The structure of each lesson is Revisit and review; Teach and practise (how to pronounce the phoneme, hearing the new phoneme in a word, a mnemonic and formation phrase, blending and tricky words); and Practise and apply
• By the end of week 3 children who are not yet blending receive additional keep up support
• Half termly assessments are carried out to ensure children are making expected progress, and to identify quickly children who are not so that keep up intervention is provided; this may be within a group or individually
• The teaching of phonics is explained in the parent/carers meeting in the first 2 weeks into term. There are additional family workshops offered to parents/carers at the start of each new phase.
  Children have sound pouches to practise blending for reading and segmenting for spelling at home.

How we support children catching up in reading

Despite the structured approach to phonics and early reading, there will be children who fall behind for a number of different reasons. At Threemilestone School there are structures in place to support children in this position.

• Little Wandle half termly assessments are carried out to ensure children are making expected progress, and to identify quickly children who are not so that keep up intervention is provided; this may be within a group or individually
• Any child in the school who is reading below the purple book band is assessed and placed within the Little Wandle Rapid catch up programme.
• Any child who starts at TMS completes a Little Wandle placement assessment to ensure they are being taught at the correct level in their phonics development
• The progress of all children is discussed in the termly pupil progress meetings with the Headteacher and SENCo. Children who are falling behind from looking at data and formative assessments are discussed as a priority. 
• Keep up interventions for Little Wandle are provided for children in the bottom 20%; this may be within a group or individually, there may also be daily reading, tricky/common expectation words or high frequency sight vocabulary. 
• In EYFS children complete an assessment for the Language Link programme to identify additional speech delays.
• Where language and communication are additional barriers, additional specific programmes are put in place by our school SLCN specialist. A trained TA for speech and language works with children on their specific targets.
• Communication with parents/carers is strong and advice on how to support at home is made explicit.
• Interventions take place in all classes; this can look different depending on the needs of a class, and teachers may choose to alter whole class teaching or apply individual intervention.
• All teachers use day to day planning throughout the school which takes into account daily formative assessment that informs the planning of the next day’s reading.

How we train our staff to become reading experts

At Threemilestone School, reading is a priority. This also means that we believe that reading is an integral part of our professional development schedule.

• All staff have completed Little Wandle training. Any new members of staff who join our school complete the 6 hour online training provided by Little Wandle.
• Each year the whole school completes refresher training modules.
• There is bespoke training for adults working with children with complex and specific needs by the SENCO or reading leads.
• Staff are involved in observing other practitioners regularly to improve their own practice.
• A coaching model of monitoring has been rolled out across Little Wandle. 
• Reading (including phonics) is reviewed termly by the Languages Team and more training needs may be identified through monitoring. This is reported to Governors.
• The Language Team receives training and information from the Kernow English Hub both for Little Wandle and the Early Language Programme.
• Termly TLTs (Teaching and Learning Training sessions) are used to ensure staff understand the continued importance and progressive journey of reading at TMS ensuring they are up to date with all relevant changes.
• TA Training on reading follows this to make sure they are working alongside the teachers and understand why reading happens in this way. TAs receive a reading training session every half term.
• Reading leads monitor and offer support and guidance through lesson observations, monitoring planning and assessment.
• Early Reading and phonics lead is available every Thursday to support staff,  with a particular focus on RCU TAs. 
• Ongoing CPD training via the Little Wandle Platform  is regularly used by teaching staff with a weekly newsletter sent to all staff to inform staff of future training sessions.

Learning to read matters for every child, regardless of their starting points or learning needs. This is why we make bespoke plans for individual children to support their phonics needs. We use a variety of programmes from Little Wandle including their SEND, Foundations of phonics and Rapid Catch up programme to create a suitable route to reading for every child. 

• Plans are adapted on an individual basis with a graduated approach to their phonics progression. 
• Resources have been purchased to include larger sensory grapheme cards for Phases 2, 3 and 5, large desktop Grapheme mat for Phases 2, 3 and 5.
• Little Wandle resources and books are part of the RNIB Bookshare collection in a range of accessible formats. 
• Blending practice books are used  across phase 2 and 3 to scaffold children’s reading further by providing additional blending practice opportunities.
• Children are assessed against the SEND Little Wandle Assessments to show progress in smaller steps, and therefore inform planning to teach smaller-steps for each child if required.

There is bespoke training for adults working with children with complex and specific needs by the SENCO or reading leads.