Subject Vision Statement

“At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a book – that string of confused, alien ciphers – shivered into meaning. Words spoke to you, gave up their secrets; at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader.” - Albert Manguel

At St Ignatius, we help our early readers to learn and develop the knowledge and skills essential to read unfamiliar words by themselves. Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters. Through having letter-sound knowledge, and the ability to blend the sounds of letters together, children can decode unfamiliar or unknown words by sounding them out. At St Ignatius, teach systematic synthetic phonics in a way that is fun for children.

Our Curriculum

At St Ignatius we have chosen Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised as our systematic, synthetic phonics (SSP) programme to teach early reading and spelling.

It draws on the latest research into how children learn best; how to ensure learning stays in children’s long-term memory and how best to enable children to apply their learning to become highly competent readers. Our children read engaging, decodable books, matched to their secure phonic knowledge.

Assessment

Children are regularly assessed on their phonic knowledge and skills so that support and challenge can be provided where necessary. 

Phonic Screening Check

Every child in Year 1 completes a statutory phonics screening check in the second week of summer term 2 as well as any pupils in Year 2 who have not taken the check before or did not meet the expected standard in their Year 1.

The phonics screening check is designed to confirm whether pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an age-appropriate standard. It will identify pupils who need extra help to improve their decoding skills. The check consists of 20 real words and 20 pseudo-words (alien words) that pupils read aloud to a known adult.

Targeted Support

We ensure that every child in Year 2 or above who cannot read at age-related expectations gets urgent, targeted support so that they can access the curriculum and enjoy reading as soon as possible.

Little Wandle Rapid Catch-up is a complete catch-up programme that mirrors the core Little Wandle phonics programme, but is delivered at a quicker pace, and has great impact. Lessons are embedded in reading with Big Cat for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised 7+ books available. These ensure older children can grow their language and become fluent readers, using texts which appeal to their growing understanding.

Useful Links

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised

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

Letters and Sounds Document https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/190599/Letters_and_Sounds_-_DFES-00281-2007.pdf

Free resources for Letters and Sounds phonics                                                        

http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/

Phonics Play                                                                                               

https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/