At our school, we use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised as our systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programme to teach children to read and spell. Little Wandle provides a structured, consistent and carefully sequenced approach to phonics, supporting children to develop the essential skills they need to become confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers.

The programme is underpinned by current research into how children learn to read and how learning is secured in long-term memory. It teaches children to recognise the relationships between letters and sounds (grapheme-phoneme correspondences), blend sounds to read words and segment words to spell. Through daily, engaging phonics lessons, regular opportunities for repetition and practice, and carefully matched decodable reading books, children progressively develop accuracy, fluency and confidence.

We have adopted Little Wandle because we believe every child deserves the opportunity to become a successful reader, regardless of their starting point or background. Its clear progression, consistent teaching approach and regular assessment enable us to identify and address gaps in learning quickly, ensuring that children receive the support they need to keep up. By providing high-quality, evidence-informed phonics teaching alongside a rich language and reading culture, we aim to give every child the foundations to become a lifelong reader.

To access the Little Wandle parents' portal, click here.