Phonics at Eaves

Little Wandle Phonics

At Eaves Primary School, we are committed to helping every child become a confident, fluent and enthusiastic reader. We know that strong early reading skills are the foundation for future learning and success across the curriculum.

We teach phonics through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme, a systematic and engaging approach to early reading and writing. Daily phonics lessons begin in Reception and continue through Key Stage One, with additional support and catch-up sessions provided for children who need extra practice.

Through Little Wandle, children are taught to:

recognise letters and the sounds they represent
blend sounds together to read words
segment words into sounds for spelling
develop fluency and confidence when reading aloud

Children take home fully decodable reading books that are carefully matched to the sounds they have been taught in school. This helps children practise and apply their phonics knowledge successfully at home while building confidence and enjoyment in reading.

At Eaves, we believe reading should be both purposeful and enjoyable. Alongside phonics teaching, children are immersed in high-quality stories, rhymes and texts that help develop vocabulary, comprehension and a lifelong love of reading.

We value the important partnership between school and home and encourage families to read regularly together to support children’s progress and confidence.

Little Wandle at Home

You can use the following links to support your child at home.

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/

Little Wandle also have an extensive collection of videos on their YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@lettersandsoundsforhomeand9824

Support for Parents

The Little Wandle Support for Phonics page has example videos and lots of resources to download to help your child on their phonics journey.

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

How we Teach Phonics

Learn how Little Wandle teaches phonics with video examples and downloads.

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

Supporting Your Child with Reading

At Eaves Primary School, we are passionate about helping every child become a confident and enthusiastic reader. While your child will learn to read at school, regular reading at home makes a huge difference to their progress and enjoyment of books.

Your child may bring home two different types of reading books:

A reading practice book – matched to your child’s current phonics stage so they can read it confidently and independently.
A sharing book – a book chosen to enjoy together, helping to develop a love of reading.

Reading Practice Book

This book has been carefully chosen to match your child’s current reading level. If it feels easy, that’s a good thing! Re-reading familiar words helps children build fluency, confidence, and expression.

Please listen to your child read the book and encourage them with lots of praise and support. Celebrate their achievements and enjoy their progress together. If they get stuck on a word, simply tell them the word and continue reading.

After reading, spend a few minutes talking about the story together. You could discuss:

their favourite part
the characters
what happened in the story
what they think might happen next

Sharing Book

Reading for pleasure is one of the most important ways to help children become lifelong readers. The sharing book is for you and your child to enjoy together.

Your child is not expected to read this book independently. Instead, read it aloud to them, read together, or simply enjoy looking through it side by side.

You can: