.png)
Phonics Teaching at Orchard
At Orchard Primary School, we use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme to deliver our phonics teaching. This systematic synthetic phonics programme is designed to support all pupils in developing strong reading and writing skills through high-quality, structured sessions. Little Wandle ensures that children learn phonics in a clear, progressive way, with daily opportunities to practise decoding, blending, and spelling. The programme also provides carefully matched decodable books that enable pupils to build fluency and confidence as they read. By using Little Wandle, we are committed to fostering a love of reading and helping every child achieve their full potential in literacy.
.jpg)
The Little Wandle vision is to teach reading and change lives.
Their mission is that every child should be supported to learn to read and love it.
The Pedagogy of Little Wandle is that effective learning depends not only on what pupils learn but how they learn. Drawing on the principles identified by Dehaene, Little Wandle teaching emphasises four key pillars of learning: focused attention, active engagement, error feedback, and practice with consolidation. Phonics lessons are designed to maintain pupils’ focused attention through short, purposeful sessions that build on prior knowledge and avoid distractions. Pupils are actively engaged through regular oral responses and collaborative activities that deepen understanding and application. When errors occur, teachers provide supportive modelling of correct responses to encourage improvement without fear of failure. Finally, learning is reinforced through frequent, spaced practice and consolidation, ensuring knowledge is committed to long-term memory.
Other Reading Opportunities at Orchard
At Orchard Primary School, alongside our systematic phonics teaching through the Little Wandle programme, in KS1 we use a guided reading approach called Reading Squad to develop pupils’ reading fluency and comprehension skills. Reading Squad provides structured opportunities for pupils to practise reading aloud with support, helping to build confidence, accuracy, and understanding. In Key Stage 2, we adopt a Novel Study approach, where pupils engage with a high-quality novel through whole-class teaching. This approach deepens their comprehension and fluency by exploring rich texts together, supporting the development of critical thinking and a love of reading. Both approaches complement our phonics teaching and are designed to ensure pupils become confident, fluent readers who can understand and enjoy a wide range of texts.
Reading for Pleasure at Orchard
At Orchard for have used the Open University Reading for Pleasure research to foster a love of reading across school, having dedicated spaces and times to enjoy books and reading as well as developing children's ownership and enjoyment of their own choices of books to enjoy and recommend.
