Reading and Phonics
At Marine Park Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that every child develops a love of reading and the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to become a successful reader and writer. Reading sits at the heart of our curriculum, opening doors to learning, developing children's understanding of the world and giving them the foundations they need to thrive throughout their education and beyond.
Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised
From September 2026, we are excited to introduce Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised as our systematic synthetic phonics programme.
Little Wandle provides a clear and consistent approach to the teaching of early reading and phonics. Children are taught the sounds that letters and groups of letters represent and how to blend these sounds together to read words. Alongside daily phonics teaching, carefully matched reading practice helps children develop decoding, fluency and comprehension.
Our staff receive the training and support needed to deliver Little Wandle consistently and effectively. Children's progress is carefully monitored so that additional support can be provided quickly when it is needed, helping every child to keep up and become a confident reader.
Developing Vocabulary from the Very Beginning
We recognise that a rich vocabulary is fundamental to children's success in reading, writing and across the wider curriculum. Our commitment to developing vocabulary begins in EYFS and continues throughout children's time at Marine Park.
Children are introduced to new vocabulary through high-quality texts, purposeful conversations, play and carefully planned learning experiences. Adults explicitly teach the meaning of new words, model their use and provide children with frequent opportunities to hear, practise and apply them in different contexts.
As children move through school, vocabulary teaching continues across the curriculum so that they develop the language needed to understand increasingly complex texts, communicate their ideas and access learning successfully.
Celebrating and Supporting Dual Languages
At Marine Park, we value the languages our children and families bring to our school community. We recognise that speaking more than one language is an asset and that children's home languages are an important part of their identity, learning and development.
We support children who use more than one language through a range of inclusive approaches, including:
- Explicit vocabulary teaching, supported by visuals, modelling, repetition and opportunities to use new words in meaningful contexts.
- Celebrating and displaying different languages throughout our school environment, helping children and families see their languages recognised and valued.
- Using rich and diverse texts that reflect a wide range of cultures, communities, experiences and identities, enabling children to see themselves and others represented positively in the books they encounter.
- Providing dual-language texts, where appropriate, so that children can enjoy and explore stories and information in both English and their home language.
- Valuing children's home languages and encouraging families to continue talking, reading and sharing stories together in the language in which they feel most confident.
Through these approaches, we aim to create a language-rich and inclusive environment in which every child feels represented, develops confidence in communicating and is supported to become a successful reader.
Working in Partnership with Families
Parents and carers play an essential role in children's reading development. We want families to feel confident in supporting reading at home and to understand the approaches children experience in school.
As we introduce Little Wandle, we will provide resources and opportunities for parents and carers to learn more about how phonics and early reading are taught, including practical strategies that can be used at home.
Reading together, sharing stories, discussing new words and talking about books all make an enormous difference. For families who speak more than one language, we also encourage sharing books, stories and conversations in home languages. These valuable experiences help develop children's vocabulary, comprehension, confidence and enjoyment of language.
By working together, we can give every child at Marine Park the strongest possible foundations in reading, language and literacy, while nurturing a lifelong love of books and reading.
To find out more for parents click on the link to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised parents page.
Little Wandle- Parent Information
Super 6 in Nursery and Reception
Familiar, high‑quality texts are a core element of our Early Years reading curriculum and play a significant role in securing strong foundations for language and literacy. Through repeated exposure to the same carefully selected stories, children develop a deep understanding of vocabulary, narrative structure, and key language patterns. This repetition enables pupils to internalise rich story language, anticipate events, and engage confidently in retelling, supporting both comprehension and expressive communication. Familiar texts also provide a consistent platform for practitioners to model ambitious vocabulary, extend children’s thinking, and promote high‑quality interactions—an essential feature of effective Early Years pedagogy. By embedding a shared repertoire of well‑known stories across the setting, we ensure that all children, including those who may have limited prior experience of books, can participate fully and develop the secure knowledge they need to progress. This approach contributes directly to children’s readiness for early reading and underpins our commitment to ensuring that every child develops the language, confidence, and enjoyment necessary for future success.