Implementation

 At Rushden Primary Academy we use the Department of Education approved scheme Little Wandle for our teaching of phonics. This allows our phonics teaching and learning to be progressive from Reception through to Year 2 and beyond.

In EYFS there is a heavy focus on Phase 1 which promotes and develops speaking and listening skills and also lays the foundations for the phonic work which starts in Phase 2. Alongside phase 1, children are introduced to Phase 2 which marks the start of systematic phonics work. They have discrete, daily phonics sessions where they revise previous learning, are taught new graphemes/phonemes, practise together and apply what they have learnt.

Through Little Wandle, the children are taught the 44 phonemes that make up all the sounds required for reading and spelling. These phonemes include those made by just one letter and those that are made by two or more. Children work through the different phases and as they grow in confidence and experience, they are introduced to alternative ways of representing the same sound.