Ad an observation, the blue band books we’ve had home do seem very short compared to some of the other reading schemes. The purpose of the screening check is to confirm that all children have learned phonic decoding to an age-appropriate standard.

This will be taught in a fun multisensory way and may well involve: writing sounds/ words, songs, actions, pictures, puppets, writing giant letters in the air, using different voices, moving around the room, treasure hunts. He began his career as a designer for a greeting card company and then became a studio manager for a licensed stationery designer before leaving to fulfil his dream of illustrating children's books. The progress in the phases seems much more regimented, so I think we’ll be “stuck” on stage 4 for quite a while…. Little Wandle is only Letters and Sounds repackaged after the DfE admitted the original version wasn't fit for purpose so most of the phonic books written to match Letters and Sounds should be suitable.Find our full Reception and Year 1 teaching programme overview here to see what your child will learn and when. We start teaching phonics in 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. 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. Reading Books for Little Wandle Discover an exciting mix of stories and non-fiction that are matched perfectly to the Little Wandle progression and support all the Letters and Sounds phases.

Teachers will ensure children have a balance of skills across the week and over each term so that they have opportunities to develop their complete reading skills. The Reading Leader and SLT use the Audit and Prompt cards to regularly monitor and observe teaching; they use the summative data to identify children who need additional support and gaps in learning. Weekly content grids map each element of new learning to each day, week and term for the duration of the programme.

The progression is based on the DfE's publication 'Letters and Sounds: Improving Rates of Progress 2021'.