At Winterbourne Nursery and Infant School (WNIS), we believe it is essential that our approach to teaching phonics and reading is accessible to all learners, regardless of background.

At WNIS, the teaching of phonics is an integral part of the curriculum in both the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 classrooms. Children first learn their letter sounds and names then apply these to word building. As the children grow in confidence and experience, they are introduced to alternative ways of representing the same sound. The teaching of phonics is of high priority to all teachers as it enables pupils to decode for reading and encode for spelling. We ensure that our teaching of phonics is rigorous, structured and enjoyable.  Children have discrete, daily phonics sessions where they are introduced to new phonemes, can practise and revise previous learning and have plenty of opportunities to apply the knowledge they have.

We use the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds‘ Programme and teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. 

In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers. Children make a strong start in Reception as teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term.

Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy. Children in Year 2 who have passed the last Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessment no longer need to read ‘decodable books’; this is when they become ‘free readers’ and read books that correspond with their reading age. These children develop their ‘reading for pleasure’ through using our library facility. Within our library the children are exposed to a variety of books including: chapter books, non-fiction books, multilingual books and themed books. ​

For reading support, please click here: ‘Parents- Phonics Support‘