At Gedney Church End Primary Academy, we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme. Phonics sessions are taught daily for Reception and Year 1 children. 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 in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 Grapheme (letter) Phoneme (sound) Correspondence, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy. 

As a part of our phonics programme any child in Reception or Year 1 who needs additional phonics practice has daily keep-up support. 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. Children in Years 2-6 who did not pass the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, who are not fully fluent at reading or have gaps in their phonic knowledge when writing, urgently need phonics catch up lessons.  These are short, sharp lessons that address any specific reading or writing gaps a child has.

If you would like to know more about the program and how you can support your child at home, just follow this link - Little Wandle Parent Information. The resources on the page will help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also some useful videos so you can see how they are taught at school and feel confident about supporting their reading at home. Find our full Reception and Year 1 teaching programme overview here to see what your child will learn and when.