“The most important skill for children to learn is how to read.”
Department for Education

At Cavendish Church of England Primary School, we believe that learning to read is a fundamental entitlement for every child and underpins success across the whole curriculum. Our early reading curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils learn to read quickly, confidently and with enjoyment, so they can access learning and flourish both academically and personally.

We teach early reading through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme, a systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) scheme that is fully aligned with the expectations of the Department for Education. The programme provides a clear, structured and progressive approach to phonics teaching, ensuring consistency and fidelity across the school.

Phonics teaching begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage and follows the Little Wandle progression, with daily, discrete phonics lessons that build pupils’ knowledge of sounds, grapheme–phoneme correspondences and blending skills. Lessons are taught at pace and are carefully matched to pupils’ current learning, enabling children to make rapid and secure progress. Phonics teaching continues daily into Key Stage 1 until pupils become fluent readers.

Reading practice sessions are closely aligned to phonics teaching. Pupils read fully decodable books that are precisely matched to the sounds they know, ensuring success and building confidence. These sessions are taught in small groups and focus on developing decoding accuracy, fluency and comprehension.

Pupils who are at risk of falling behind are identified quickly through regular assessment and receive immediate same-day catch-up and additional targeted support. These interventions are delivered using the same Little Wandle materials and approaches, ensuring consistency and enabling pupils to keep up with their peers.

All staff involved in the teaching of early reading receive high-quality training and ongoing professional development to ensure accurate delivery of the programme. Assessment is used regularly to monitor progress, inform grouping and identify next steps, ensuring teaching meets the needs of all pupils.

As a result of our early reading curriculum, pupils develop strong decoding skills, increasing fluency and confidence, and a growing enjoyment of reading. They are well prepared for the Phonics Screening Check and leave Key Stage 1 as confident readers, equipped with the skills they need to access the wider curriculum and succeed in future learning.