Foundation Stage
Key Information
PE Day - Monday
Phonics
In Reception, the children start the journey into reading and spelling. We follow the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised’ programme, learning the link between the sounds in words and how these are written down. In Reception we cover phases two, three and four, preparing the children for phase five in Year One.
Little Wandle Letters and Sounds: Reception Overview
This programme overview shows the progression of GPCs and tricky words that we teach term-by-term. The progression has been organised so that children are taught from the simple to more complex GPCs, as well as taking into account the frequency of their occurrence in the most commonly encountered words. All the graphemes taught are practised in words, sentences, and later on, in fully decodable books. Children review and revise GPCs and words, daily, weekly and across terms and years, in order to move this knowledge into their long term memory.
Children need to learn to read as quickly as reasonably possible, so they can move from learning to read, to reading to learn, giving them access to the treasure house of reading. Our expectations of progression are aspirational yet achievable if schools maintain pace, practice and participation by all children. Children who are not keeping-up with their peers should be given additional practice immediately through keep-up sessions.
Please click on the logo below to access the full overview.
Grapheme Mat
In school we use a Reception Grapheme Mat to support the children during writing, which you can also use to support your child at home.
Grapheme Mat
Guides to how children are taught to say sounds at each stage.
You can also visit the website to watch videos showing you how to pronounce the sounds and how we teach phonics.
Website link: https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Reading
In school we will read with your child three times a week, using Collins Big Cat books that exactly match the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised’ programme. We read the same book three times – first we focus on decoding the words, then we focus on reading the book with expression, and finally we focus on understanding the text.
The children also get reading books to read at home. The children will receive reading practice books from the Oxford Reading Tree scheme, matched to their phonic stage that they can read independently. To begin with these might have no words in. Please share the book with your child and talk about what is happening in the pictures. When they are able to decode letters together they will receive a book with some with simple words in. Please encourage your child to sound out the letters and blend them together to read the words.
Please read with your child every day. Re-reading the same book enables children to develop their fluency and understanding of the book. Please put a comment in their reading record book to indicate that you have read with your child.
They will also bring home a sharing book for you to enjoy together. It will enable them to enjoy listening to an adult reading a book, possibly as a bedtime story. If children are to become lifelong readers, it is essential that they are encouraged to read for pleasure.
The books will be changed once a week, but please ensure that your child has their books in their book bag everyday.