Our Phonics Approach: Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised

At Pennington Church of England Primary School, we use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised as our systematic, synthetic phonics programme. This ensures a consistent, rigorous approach to early reading and spelling across EYFS and Key Stage 1, and for any children in Key Stage 2 who need additional support.

Little Wandle is a highly regarded programme that is built on the latest research into how children learn to read. Through daily, carefully structured phonics lessons, children are taught to:

• recognise grapheme–phoneme correspondences (the sounds letters make)
• blend sounds to read words
• segment words to support accurate spelling
• develop fluency and confidence in reading

We follow the programme’s progression with fidelity, ensuring that every child builds secure foundations in early reading.

To support children further, we use fully decodable books that match the phonics they have been taught. This means children experience success, develop confidence, and practise applying their phonics skills every time they read.

For pupils who need extra help, we provide targeted daily Keep Up sessions, so they do not fall behind. These short, focused interventions are designed to give children the precise support they need to master key skills.

Our aim is simple:
to ensure every child becomes a confident, fluent reader who can enjoy a lifetime of reading for pleasure.