At St Werburgh’s we follow Little Wandle for the teaching of daily Phonics.

What is it?

  • Phonics Programme:

    Little Wandle teaches children to read by first helping them recognize and pronounce individual sounds (phonemes) and the letters or letter groups that represent them (graphemes). 

  • Systematic and Synthetic:

    It follows a structured, systematic approach, teaching children to blend these sounds together to read words (decoding) and to break words down into sounds to spell them. 

  • Evidence-Based:

    The program is built on the latest research and evidence about how children learn best to read. 

How does it work?

  • Daily Lessons:

    Children have daily phonics lessons to learn new sounds and words. 

  • Fluency Practice:

    They practice reading words and texts with accuracy and expression, smoothly and in a timely manner. 

  • Interventions:

    The program includes interventions to help children who are struggling, ensuring no child is left behind. 

  • Assessments:

    Regular assessments help teachers monitor children's progress and identify areas where they might need additional support. 

Key Components:

  • Grapheme-Phoneme Correspondence:

    Children learn to match the sounds in spoken language to the written symbols (graphemes). 

  • Reading Comprehension:

    Beyond decoding, the program also aims to develop a child's understanding and interpretation of the text they read. 

  • Support for Schools and Parents:

    Little Wandle offers resources like training, videos, and planning materials for teachers, as well as support and resources for parents to help their children at home. 

Information for parents

Useful websites and apps to support your child’s Phonics / overall learning at home;


https://www.teachyourmonster.org/
This award-winning phonics game is completely free to use on a PC and an app can be purchased relatively inexpensively for use with tablets.

For parents | Letters and Sounds FREE
Great to show parents how to say each sound and how to support reading at home

Starfall Education: Kids Games, Movies, Books & Music for K-5 and above FREE
Starfall has many different components for kids to explore the reading process. There is an alphabet component where each letter is broken down in its own little book. The book goes over the sound of the letter, words that begin with that letter, how to sign each letter, and the name of each letter.

ictgames - Home Page FREE
ICTgames is a fun phonics site that explores the reading process through the use of games.The topics included in these games are abc order, letter sounds, letter matching, cvc, sound blends, word building, spelling, sentence writing, and several others. The games are centered around dinosaurs, planes, dragons, rockets, and other age-appropriate subjects designed to engage students. ICTgames also has a math game component that is extremely helpful.

Topmarks: teaching resources, interactive resources, worksheets, homework, exam and revision help FREE

Cbeebies free app- Download free CBeebies games and story apps for kids and find out how they can help your child learn while having fun.

Cbeebies Alphablocks and Numberblocks episodes are also very educational and fun for your child to watch.