At Nutgrove Methodist Primary School, early reading is taught through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, a systematic and highly effective phonics programme that ensures every child becomes a confident, fluent reader. Rooted in research and designed for consistency, Little Wandle provides clear, carefully sequenced lessons that help children build strong foundations in phonics from the very start of Reception.

Our approach ensures that:

• All children are taught phonics daily, following a progressive, structured programme.

• Sounds (phonemes) are introduced in a systematic order, helping children quickly develop secure blending and segmenting skills.

• Children read books that are closely matched to their phonics knowledge, allowing them to apply what they’ve learned and experience success.

• Regular assessment helps us provide targeted support and keep-up sessions for any child who needs extra practice.

We work closely with families to support reading at home, offering guidance on pronunciation, sharing Little Wandle resources and celebrating the importance of daily reading. Our aim is to ensure that every child not only learns how to read but develops a genuine love of reading.

Through Little Wandle, we create confident, enthusiastic early readers who are ready to access all areas of the curriculum and enjoy a lifetime of reading for pleasure.

Little Wandle Phonics: SEND and Rapid Catch-up

At our school, we believe that every child can become a successful reader with the right teaching and support. We use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, a systematic synthetic phonics programme, alongside its dedicated SEND Programme and Rapid Catch-up Programme to ensure teaching is matched carefully to individual pupils' needs. The SEND and Rapid Catch-up programmes teach the same phonics knowledge but allow it to be delivered at an appropriate pace for different learners.

Little Wandle SEND Programme

The Little Wandle SEND Programme is designed particularly for children with complex SEND that affects cognition. It follows a graduated, small-steps approach, enabling children to develop their phonics and reading skills at a pace that is appropriate for them.

Teaching can be broken down grapheme by grapheme, with carefully structured opportunities to practise oral blending, recognise sounds and build towards blending words independently. The programme also includes visual prompts, blending grids and resources designed to support inclusive and accessible teaching.

This approach enables us to:

• break phonics learning into small, manageable steps;
• provide additional repetition and practice;
• adapt the pace of teaching to the individual child;
• use visual support to develop oral blending and word reading;
• regularly review learning and build securely on what each child already knows.

Little Wandle Rapid Catch-up

Rapid Catch-up is designed for children in Year 2 and above who are not yet reading at the expected level for their age. It mirrors the content of the main Little Wandle phonics programme but teaches it at a quicker pace, providing focused and targeted support so that pupils can catch up as quickly as possible (this pace can also be adapted to suit individual needs).

Children's phonics knowledge is assessed so that teaching can focus on the areas they need to develop. Structured phonics teaching is complemented by reading practice using decodable books, helping children apply their developing phonics knowledge when reading connected text. Age-appropriate Little Wandle 7+ books are also available so that older pupils can practise reading using texts designed to appeal to their interests and growing understanding.

The aim is to help pupils develop accurate decoding, increasing fluency, confidence and enjoyment of reading, enabling them to access reading across the wider curriculum.

Choosing the Right Support

Children's needs are different, and therefore the support they receive may look different too. Broadly:

• Reception and Year 1: pupils usually follow the main Little Wandle programme, with Daily Keep-up support where additional practice is required.
• Year 2 and above: pupils who are not yet reading at age-related expectations may access Rapid Catch-up.
• Pupils with complex SEND affecting cognition: the Little Wandle SEND Programme provides a more gradual, small-steps approach that can be used at a pace appropriate to the individual learner.

Through careful assessment, targeted teaching, regular practice and appropriately matched reading books, our aim is to give every child the skills, confidence and enjoyment they need to become a successful reader.