Why is reading so important?

"I realized in a whiplash burst that those children, all mine for one year, might never reach their full potential as human beings if they never learned to read."  

Maryanne Wolf’s sudden awareness, as a new teacher, of her responsibilities towards her young class highlights why reading matters. To the individual, it matters emotionally, culturally and educationally; because of the economic impacts within society, it matters to everyone. (The Reading Framework 2023)

We are a Little Wandle, Letters and Sounds School. 

Reading is the gateway to learning. 

Our aim is for all children to be able to read fluently and automatically. We have high expectations for all our children and strongly believe that by learning to read, children are empowered to read to learn. Reading opens up the whole curriculum and a lifetime of learning opportunities. Furthermore, reading for pleasure, regardless of age, provides escapism and joy.

It has been proven that being able to read accurately by the age of 6 has a strong correlation with future academic success. We are a Little Wandle Letter and Sounds Revised Phonics school and our children in year R and 1 follow this scheme.  

Teaching phonics is only one part of learning to read. Children also need to have good word recognition, be experts at decoding and strong language comprehension skills. These need to be taught discretely through precision teaching and regular opportunities to practise these skills. 

Reading for 10 minutes per day has a positive impact on children's progression. Our systematic synthetic phonics sessions are taught with consistency to help ensure that our children make the best progress possible. Our staff are trained in the delivery of this phonics scheme and regular CPD opportunities ensure that we are up to date with the latest research.

Lessons and additional practise have the same format and follow the same practices. We know that every child in our school will have the access to quality provision and learning. Our aim is that every child is able to read fluently and with confidence. 

Across the school, our children have access to a wide range of quality texts and time to enjoy reading and learn from it.

Our Reading Leader is Mrs Hayley Silver.

What does phonics teaching look like in our school?

* Phonics lessons are taught daily

* Each lesson takes 10-30 minutes

* Learning is reinforced and applied in context throughout the day

Consistency of approach

All our EYFS team and teaching staff have completed the training and have the same..

* complete knowledge and understanding of phonics

* pronunciation of phonemes

* use of terminology

* expectations of pace and progression of learning

* a can-do attitude, promoting high-expectations for all

Information for Parents and Carers

If you would like any further information and support with phonics please speak with Mrs Silver.

Alternatively, additional information and support can be found on the Little Wandle site please follow the link below:

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/