At St Edward’s, we follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds as our phonics scheme. We have two sets of reading books that children use: Big Cat for Little Wandle, which children read at home, and Big Cat Book Bands, which are also sent home to read. Children should be able to read a book with 90% fluency for it to be at the correct level for them.
Every five weeks, we assess children’s phonic knowledge and match this to the correct reading level using the matching grid on the Little Wandle website. A child should be reading a book where they recognise all the phonemes and can segment and blend independently. If they are struggling, the book is too hard. If they are reading fluently, the book is too easy. During Reading Practice lessons, children are constantly monitored and assessed.
Reading Practice lessons start in Reception once children can recognise a number of sounds and can blend at least two words on the assessment. These lessons also take place in Year 1 and Year 2 until children have completed Phase 5. Children needing extra support with phonics will undertake Rapid Catch-Up sessions, where Reading Practice lessons may also be seen on Days 3, 4, and 5.
Reading Practice lessons follow the three-day teaching sequence: decode, prosody, and comprehension.
Big Cat home reading books are given out on a Friday and returned the following week. A new book is not given out until the previous one is returned. Home reading books are assigned by phases until children have completed Phase 5; they then continue reading through the book bands until they reach Pearl, become a free reader, and can choose a book from the library.
From Year 2 upwards, children are encouraged to bring books into school every day so that they can read to an adult.