Our Vision
For all children to experience the joy that comes with reading independently, they first need to learn the sounds associated with letters. At Westbury Park, we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds structured phonics scheme. Through explicit teaching of phonics, exposure to high quality texts and communication and partnership with parents, we aim to equip every child with the early reading skills they need in order to become fluent and confident readers and writers.
Our phonics timeline
Children begin their reading journey as soon as they join us in Reception. They make progress with learning to read by learning the phonemes (sounds) in the English language and being able to identify the matching graphemes (written letters). Children in Reception learn sounds and words from Phase 2, 3 and 4 of our Little Wandle scheme.
In Year One, children progress to Phase 5. They focus on alternative pronunciation and are able to decode and blend confidently when reading and spelling.
Throughout Reception and Year 1, children are regularly assessed on the sounds they have learnt to ensure rapid progress and are given extra support when needed through intervention groups.
At the end of Year One, all children take the statutory national phonics screening check.
Phonics continues into Year Two with Rapid Catch Up available for the less confident and a reading level progression that complements all phonics learning from their first two years of school.
