Nursery – Foundations for Phonics

In Nursery, children take part in the Foundations for Phonics programme. Through high-quality interactions, stories, songs, rhymes and play-based activities, children develop:

• Listening and attention skills

• Vocabulary and language development

• Rhythm and rhyme awareness

• Confidence in communication

These early experiences prepare children for successful phonics learning as they move into Reception.

Reception and Year 1 – Little Wandle Main Programme

In Reception and Year 1, children follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression. Daily phonics lessons are taught consistently and at pace to ensure children:

• Learn new grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs)

• Practise blending for reading

• Develop accurate segmenting for spelling

• Build fluency and confidence

Children read fully decodable Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised books that are carefully matched to the GPCs they have been taught and their current blending ability. This ensures that every child experiences success and develops reading fluency and comprehension.

Keeping Up and Catching Up

We believe that every child can succeed in phonics. Daily assessment informs teaching and allows staff to quickly identify children who need additional support.

We provide:

• Daily ‘Keep-up’ sessions — short, precise and bespoke interventions tailored to children’s evolving needs

• Rapid Catch-up interventions for children in Year 2 and beyond who require further phonics support

These interventions are delivered by trained staff to ensure that children keep pace with the programme and make strong progress.

Beyond Phonics – Bridge to Spelling

Once children have completed the phonics programme and are reading accurately and fluently, they move onto Bridge to Spelling. This supports children in applying their phonics knowledge to spelling patterns, morphology and etymology, helping them become confident and proficient writers.