Phonics & Reading at Elloughton Primary School
Where children are inspired to read with confidence and enjoyment

At Elloughton Primary School, we believe that reading is the key to accessing the whole curriculum. Reading supports children’s language development, imagination and understanding of the world, and we want every child to become a confident, fluent reader who enjoys reading for pleasure and purpose.

We recognise that children arrive at school with a wide range of experiences, needs and starting points.

​Our inclusive approach ensures that all children, including those with SEND and EAL, receive the support they need to succeed as readers.

Our Intent
At Elloughton Primary School, we believe that all children can become fluent readers and writers. Our aim is for children to develop secure phonics knowledge, strong comprehension skills and a lifelong love of reading.

We teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, a systematic synthetic phonics programme. This ensures that children build their knowledge of the alphabetic code step by step, enabling them to read and spell accurately and confidently as they move through school.
​
By the time children leave Elloughton Primary School, they will:
​

• read confidently and fluently for meaning
• be able to tackle unfamiliar words independently
• have a secure foundation in phonics and spelling
• enjoy reading for pleasure and purpose

Phonics: Learning to Read
Phonics teaches children the relationship between sounds (phonemes) and letters (graphemes). We teach phonics daily, with pace, consistency and fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
​
Children learn to blend sounds to read words and segment sounds to spell words, enabling them to decode unfamiliar words accurately and confidently.

Phonics Progression


Foundations for Phonics (Nursery)
In Nursery, we focus on building the foundations children need before formal phonics teaching begins. This includes:

• developing listening and attention
• building spoken language and vocabulary
• sharing high-quality stories, songs and nursery rhymes
• developing phonological awareness through rhyme and oral blending

We use Little Wandle Foundations as part of our wider Early Years provision to ensure children are well prepared for phonics teaching in Reception.

Daily Phonics in Reception and Year 1
From Reception, children take part in daily phonics lessons following the Little Wandle progression.
​

• Teaching begins early in the Autumn term
• Children learn to blend sounds to read words and segment sounds to spell
• Learning is revisited regularly to build fluency and confidence

By the end of Year 1, children are well prepared for the Phonics Screening Check.

Phonics progression

Daily Keep-Up and Rapid Catch-Up
We believe that every child can learn to read and act quickly when additional support is needed.

• Daily Keep-Up sessions support children in Reception and Year 1 who need extra practice
• Rapid Catch-Up supports older children who still need phonics teaching

These sessions are short, focused and taught by trained adults using the same Little Wandle routines and resources.
​
Reading Practice Sessions
Children take part in reading practice sessions three times a week in small groups.
These sessions:

• use fully decodable books matched precisely to children’s phonics knowledge
• are taught by trained adults
• focus on three key reading skills:
  • decoding
  • reading with expression (prosody)
  • comprehension

​Children read the same book several times to build accuracy, fluency and confidence

Reading Beyond Phonics
Once children have secured their phonics knowledge, they continue to develop their reading through:

• whole-class reading
• explicit vocabulary teaching
• discussion and comprehension activities
• exposure to a wide range of high-quality texts​

​Children who still need additional support continue to receive targeted phonics or fluency teaching.

Reading for Pleasure
We place a strong emphasis on developing a love of reading.

• Children are read to every day
• Classrooms have inviting book corners with carefully chosen texts
• Children explore a wide range of authors, genres and cultures
• Teachers encourage discussion and book recommendations

​We believe that reading for pleasure supports academic success, wellbeing and lifelong learning.

Home Reading: How Parents Can Help

We expect all children to read at least four times a week at home.
Regular home reading:
​

• builds fluency and confidence
• strengthens comprehension
• supports phonics learning
• develops positive reading habits

All children have a school reading record, which we ask parents and carers to complete regularly. This helps us work together to support each child’s progress as a reader.
Children take home:

• a decodable reading book matched to their phonics knowledge
• a reading for pleasure book to share and enjoy with an adult

​
For parents | Letters and Sounds

Whole Class Reading

Children also experience reading teaching as a whole class. They explore fiction, non-fiction and poetry while developing a range of reading skills.

Teachers read aloud regularly to model fluent reading and expose pupils to a wide range of vocabulary, genres and themes.
​
Whole-class reading continues into Key Stage 2 where pupils study high-quality texts in depth, helping them to establish meaning and analyse language.

Reading corners

Every classroom is equipped with resources that encourage pupils to read for pleasure. Reading corners, cushions, blankets, and other comfortable features help create an inviting environment designed to maximise enjoyment of the reading experience.

Assessment and Impact

We regularly assess children’s phonics and reading to ensure they are making strong progress.

Assessment helps us to:

• identify children who need additional support quickly
• match reading books accurately
• monitor progress over time

​Our aim is for all children to leave Elloughton Primary School as fluent, confident readers who enjoy reading and can access the full curriculum.

​

Key Vocabulary

In reading, pupils develop and use subject-specific vocabulary that helps them understand how texts work and how meaning is constructed.

Examples of key vocabulary include:
phoneme
grapheme
blend
segment
decode
fluency
comprehension
inference
​
Developing secure reading vocabulary helps pupils discuss texts confidently and deepen their understanding.

Further Information If you would like further information about reading at Elloughton Primary School, please contact the school office who will direct your enquiry to the relevant subject leader.

Book Talk
Reading with your child can support them in developing a love of reading. The OU have come up with guides and videos to support parents with this.

https://ourfp.org/supporting-rah/book-chat-reading-with-your-child/ 
​
Book Chat Guide 
Book Chat Poster

Reading Aloud

Stories online for children aged 3-5
Stories online for children aged 5-7
Stories online for children aged 7-9
Stories online for children aged 9-11

​Every month, the Book Trust review dozens of books for children and teenagers. Here are their recommendations: New children's books we love
​
Every year, the Book Trust publishes their 'Great Book Guide'. Here are their most up to date list of 100 books that they think are great – and so will children!
Great Books Guide
​
Picture Books
​
Picture books are wonderful for all ages in primary schools and are not to be limited to the younger classrooms alone. Here are some suggestions for all ages:
Year 1 picture books about fear and worry
Year 1 picture books promoting diversity
Lower Key Stage Two Picture Book Recommendations
​Upper Key Stage Two Picture Book Recommendations
The Best Wordless Picture books for Primary School Children

High Quality Texts

We truly believe in the power of a rich, high quality text.
If you would like some suggestions then please see the following lists of suggested texts for each year group.

Suggested Texts for Pre-school and Nursery
Suggested Texts for Reception Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 1 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 2 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 3 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 4 Pupils
Suggested Texts for Year 5 Pupils
​Suggested Texts for Year 6 Pupils

For more support with selecting texts appropriate for your child's age, click here.
​
​For more book lists including 'Books of the Month', 'Ones to Watch' as well as poetry and magazine subscription suggestions, click here.

Little Wandle resources for parents

---

View More