Billing Brook School

Phonics

Phonics is taught to all pupils at Billing Brook, as one of the strategies to support them in their reading. Although we recognise that not everybody will learn to read using the phonics approach, we strive to provide every pupil the opportunity to access it as part of the literacy curriculum.

Billing Brook follows the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Phonics scheme. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised has been developed by Wandle and Little Sutton English Hubs and taken forward by Little Sutton Primary School and Wandle Learning Trust in partnership with other phonics and early reading experts.

Little Wandle 3000 from Little Wandle on Vimeo.

The complete SSP has been built around the update (Letters and Sounds improving rates of progress 2021) and draws on our own schools’ excellent practice, as well as our work with schools around the country. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised also draws on the latest research into how children learn best; how to ensure learning stays in children’s long term memory and how best to enable children to apply their learning to become highly competent readers. 

The Little Wandle SEND Programme has been developed to be used with the graduated approach to teach children to learn to read in small steps that provide the right amount of challenge. We anticipate that most children and young people who follow it will be in specialist provision of some kind. The SEND Programme isn’t additional practice for those children who are falling slightly behind their peers. It provides pathways for pupils who may need very specific adaptations to the teaching steps because they have complex needs, and has been developed with the advice from Special schools across the country.