Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters. For example, the sound k can be spelt as c, k, ck or ch.

At Orchid Vale Primary School, we follow Little Wandle Phonics Scheme, and all teachers and Teaching Assistants have been trained on how to teach phonics effectively.  In school, we have a range of reading schemes designed to build up children's vocabulary, strategies and confidence in reading.

From Reception, we use reading materials that are closely matched to the sounds that the children have been learning in their phonics lessons.

All children from Reception to Year 2 take part in a daily phonics lesson.  This lesson covers learning new phonemes and graphemes, blending, spelling and handwriting.

In Guided Reading, we use books linked to the sounds that the children have learnt in phonics lessons, both paper and online versions, to develop children’s reading skills further.