Phonics (reading and spelling)

At Park Road Academy Primary School, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in Nursery/Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.

As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At Park Road Academy Primary School, we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

Comprehension

At Park Road Academy Primary School, we value reading as a crucial life skill. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.

Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have a Reading Leader who drives the early reading programme in our school. This person is highly skilled at teaching phonics and reading, and they monitor and support our reading team, so everyone teaches with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.

At Park Road Academy Primary School, we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme to ensure every child becomes a confident, fluent reader who loves reading. From Nursery onwards, children enjoy high-quality stories, rhymes and language-rich experiences that prepare them for phonics in Reception.

Daily phonics lessons in Reception and Year 1 build children’s knowledge of grapheme–phoneme correspondences and blending, while additional Keep-up and Rapid Catch-up sessions ensure no child is left behind. Reading practice sessions take place three times a week in small groups to develop decoding, fluency, expression and comprehension, with books matched precisely to each child’s phonic ability.

Children take home both a decodable reading book to practise their skills and a sharing book to enjoy with their family, fostering a love of reading at home.

Across school, reading for pleasure is promoted through daily story time, engaging book areas, reading challenges, and special events such as author visits and book fairs. We provide a consistent, whole-school approach so that every child learns to read fluently and for enjoyment, enabling them to succeed across the curriculum and beyond.

At Park Road Academy Primary School, our rigorous and consistent approach to the teaching of phonics and reading ensures that all children develop the skills and confidence needed to become fluent, enthusiastic and independent readers.

Through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme, children make rapid progress from their starting points. Regular assessment and targeted Keep-up and Rapid Catch-up interventions ensure every child secures the essential skills of decoding, fluency and comprehension. By the end of Key Stage 1, the vast majority of children are reading accurately and with understanding, ready to access a broad range of texts across the curriculum.

As children move through the school, their fluency, vocabulary and comprehension deepen through carefully planned reading practice sessions, whole-class texts and exposure to rich and varied literature. They develop the ability to read for both purpose and pleasure, engaging confidently with a wide range of genres and authors.

Reading for pleasure is embedded in our school culture. Children talk passionately about books, recommend texts to one another and demonstrate a lifelong love of reading. Our pupils leave Park Road Academy as confident, fluent readers who are ready for the next stage of their education and who recognise the power of reading to expand their knowledge, imagination and understanding of the world.