Our Intent

Phonics

At St. John’s we strongly believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers, regardless of their circumstances and starting points. The school delivers phonics using Little Wandle, a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in our 3 Year Nursery 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 have effective strategies to decode unfamiliar words as they read. At St. John’s, 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 wider curriculum. We have a strong focus on language acquisition for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects, particularly as many of our children start school with lower-than-average vocabulary.

Comprehension

At St. John’s, 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.