At Warden House, we teach phonics and early reading using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme. We have been using this programme and its resources for a number of years and have seen great success with its approach. 

Supporting your child with reading 

Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home. 

In Reception and KS1, there will be two types of reading books that your child will bring home: 

1. A reading practice (phonics) book 

This book will be carefully matched to your child’s current phonics stage. At the beginning of Reception, these books will be wordless. 

Your child will read this book in school three times during the week before bringing it home on a Wednesday. We ask that children bring the book back into school on Thursday and Friday for 1:1 reading sessions. The book must then be returned to school the following Monday. 

Your child should be able to read this book with increasing fluency and independence. 

2. A sharing book 

Your child may not be able to read this book independently – and we do not expect them to! This is a book for you to read, share and enjoy together. It will be clearly labelled as a sharing book and can be changed as frequently as you wish.

Reading practice (phonics) book 

The reading practice book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child can read it with little help, please do not worry that it is too easy. Re-reading familiar texts helps children to develop fluency, confidence and understanding, which are essential foundations for becoming successful readers. 

Please listen to your child read the book repeatedlyand give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! Afterwards, talk about the book together. Inside each book, you will find guidance on how to support your child, along with comprehension questions you can discuss together. 

Sharing book 

To encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together. 

Please do not expect your child to read this book independently. Read it to them or together. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters or explore the facts in a non-fiction book. 

The most important thing is that you enjoy the book together! 

The sharing book can be changed weekly, or more frequently if required. 

Reading records 

Your child will bring home a yellow reading record for you to record their reading and share any comments about their progress. This can also be used as a communication book between you and your child’s teacher. 

Thank you for your continued support with your child’s reading.

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How we teach reading and phonics

Little Wandle have a great area for parents on their website. There are videos that demonstrate how to pronounce the sounds. Click below to access this:

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

Notice how the children don’t add an ‘uh’ sound at the end, so they say: ‘t’ not ‘tuh’. Use the downloadable information to help your child remember how to write their letters and say their sounds.

The videos included on this website also show you how we teach specific aspects of phonics in class including blending and tricky words.

Each week, staff will send home an overview of what your child is learning that week. It will include the phonemes that your child is learning, oral blending and tricky words to begin with. As they make progress, it will include whole sentences to read, writing words and spelling. Thank you for your support – it really is important and we really value all the time that you can give at home in support of your child’s reading.