Early Reading

Early Reading at Rivelin Primary School

At Rivelin Primary School, we prioritise early reading through our systematic, synthetic phonics programme, Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. From the beginning of Reception, children engage in daily phonics lessons that follow the structured progression of the programme, which continues into Year 1 to ensure that our children become confident and fluent readers.

Phonics is taught for 30 minutes each day. In Reception, we start with shorter 10-minute sessions, accompanied by additional daily oral blending games, gradually extending to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible.

Our commitment to early reading begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term in Reception. We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations for progress, teaching four new phonemes and their corresponding graphemes (GPCs) each week. These are then reinforced in the final lesson of the week, helping the learning stick. Tricky words are also introduced during these sessions.

Please find the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression of sounds in the useful documents below.

Throughout the Autumn and Spring terms, Reception children learn phase 2 and phase 3 GPCs, progressing to phase 4 in the final term. In Year 1, the Autumn term begins with a three-week revision of phases 2, 3, and 4, before moving on to phase 5, which is completed by the end of the year. In Year 2, children start the year by revisiting phase 5 and earlier phases to ensure confidence in applying their phonic knowledge in both reading and writing. We conduct half-termly assessments in Reception and Year 1 to inform future teaching and identify any gaps in phonics knowledge. Additionally, daily classroom assessments help staff quickly identify children who may need extra support through our ‘Keep Up’ intervention sessions.

For help with the pronunciation of the sounds taught, please watch the videos below.

https://youtu.be/-ZtjFIvA_fs?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/DvOuc7cWXxc?feature=shared

Reading Practice Sessions

At Rivelin Primary School, our children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 participate in ‘Reading Practice’ sessions three times a week, where they read fully decodable books with an adult. These sessions are designed to build reading fluency and confidence, allowing children to show off their growing skills and phonic knowledge to their parents and carers once they take the book home.

Each of the three weekly reading practice sessions focuses on a different aspect of reading: decoding, prosody, and comprehension. The books used during these sessions are carefully selected from the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Big Cat series, ensuring that they are fully decodable and aligned with the phonics stages the children have been learning.

We send these books home to allow children to practice their reading, helping them develop fluency and reinforcing the skills learned in school. This practice is an important part of our reading programme, as it provides children with the opportunity to share their achievements with their family and further consolidate their learning. Reading for pleasure books chosen from our school library or book corners also go home for parents to share and read to children.

To find out more about how to support your child’s reading at home, please take a look at the ‘Reading for Pleasure’ page of our school website.