Early Reading & Phonics

Intent

At Sacred Heart, we believe that every child can become a confident, fluent reader and writer. Reading is at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to giving all children the strongest possible start on their literacy journey.

We teach early reading through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme — a structured, systematic approach to phonics that helps children learn how sounds link to letters and how these can be used to read and spell words. Phonics teaching begins in the early years and follows the carefully planned Little Wandle progression, allowing children to build securely on their knowledge step by step as they move through school.

Through this approach, children develop the skills and confidence to read unfamiliar words independently, supporting both accuracy and fluency. We model and practise phonics throughout the school day, applying children’s growing knowledge during shared reading and writing activities across the wider curriculum.

Alongside phonics, we place a strong emphasis on language development. Rich opportunities for speaking and listening help children grow their vocabulary, express their ideas clearly, and develop the communication skills that underpin successful reading and writing in every subject.

Please click here to see the full progression overview of Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Programme:

Supporting your child with Phonics

The resources on this page will help you support your child with saying their sounds and writing their letters. There are also some useful videos so you can see how they are taught at school and feel confident about supporting their reading at home.

Supporting Videos

These three videos show you how to pronounce the sounds. Notice how the children don’t add an ‘uh’ sound at the end: so they say ‘t’ not ‘tuh’.

Information for Reception parents

Please find here a selection of resources to help your child in their early reading throughout their Reception year.

Information for Year 1 Parents

Please find here a selection of resources to help your child in reading throughout Year 1.

Nursery

In Nursery, we use Little Wandle Foundations for Phonics to support early language and literacy development. This approach contributes to the ‘Communication and Language’ and ‘Literacy’ areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage (DfE, 2020) and sits alongside a stimulating, language-rich environment.

Foundations for Phonics provides a clear framework to ensure children are well prepared to begin grapheme-phoneme correspondence and blending at the start of Reception. The provision includes a balance of adult-led and child-initiated experiences designed to develop early phonological awareness and communication skills.

Key aspects of phonics learning in Nursery include:

• sharing high-quality stories and poems

• learning a wide range of nursery rhymes and action rhymes

• engaging in activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending

• modelling and promoting high-quality language throughout daily interactions