Reading Assessments and Interventions

Little Wandle half termly assessments are used throughout Reception and Year 1. These assessments are used to plan and support additional reading provision.

Little Wandle - Keep Up

Daily Keep-up lessons ensure every child learns to read 

  • Any child who needs additional practice has daily Keep-up support taught by a fully trained adult. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning. 
  • We timetable daily phonics lessons for any child in Year 2 and above who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics screening check. These children urgently need to catch up so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Rapid Catch-up assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach these using the Rapid Catch-up resources – at pace.   
  • These short, sharp lessons last 15-20 minutes daily and have been designed to ensure children quickly catch up to age-related expectations in reading.

Little Wandle - Rapid Catch-up

  • The Rapid Catch-up assessment is used  
    • with any child new to the school in Year 2 and above to quickly identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan and provide appropriate extra teaching. 
  • Ongoing assessment for Rapid Catch-up in Years 2 to 6  

  • Children in Year 2 to 6 are assessed through: 
    • the Rapid Catch-up initial assessment to quickly identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan appropriate teaching 
    • the Rapid Catch-up summative assessments to assess progress and inform teaching 
    • the Rapid Catch-up fluency assessments when children are reading the Phase 5 set 3, 4 and 5 books for age 7+.  
  • The fluency assessments measure children’s accuracy and reading speed in short one-minute assessments. They also assess when children are ready to exit the Rapid Catch-up programme, which is when they read the final fluency assessment at 90+ words per minute. 

Little Wandle - SEND 

Little Wandle SEND is a complete programme that mirrors the main Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics programme but with adaptations and support in place that make it possible for Riverview to meet the needs of all learners. It helps children learn to read using the right level of challenge for each child and using the graduated approach if needed. We use the range of resources to support staff with the planning and delivery of phonics lessons and reading practice sessions. We use the resources flexibly in our teaching to match the needs of each child. We always teach to the point of challenge – we can have high expectations for every child if we put the correct adaptations, support and repeated practice in place.

Placement Assessments

The placement assessment is used for pupils who are new to the school to identify gaps in children's GPC and word reading knowledge. This 1:1 assessment gives a clear indication of where to start teaching Little Wandle.