Phonics

At Otley and Witnesham, we prioritise phonics and early reading. We value the importance of developing their phonics and reading skills to support our children in making progress across the curriculum. 

We teach phonics for 25 minutes a day following the Little Wandle structure and progression. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full length lesson as quickly as possible. Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy. Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.  

Any child who needs additional practice has daily Keep-up support. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.  We timetable daily phonics lessons for any child in Year 2 or 3 who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics Screening Check. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Keep-up resources – at pace.