At Frisby, we believe that developing early readers is crucial for a child's overall development and future success.

Early reading skills lay the foundation for academic achievement, enhancing vocabulary, comprehension, and critical thinking abilities. Children who engage with books from a young age are more likely to develop a love for reading, which can lead to lifelong learning and curiosity. Additionally, early reading fosters emotional and social growth, as stories help children understand different perspectives and build empathy. By nurturing early readers, we equip them with the tools they need to navigate and succeed in an increasingly complex world.

We use the 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds' programme as our approach to teaching our children in EYFS and Key Stage 1 to read, write and spell. 

Why does Little Wandle Letters and Sounds work?

The answer is simple, but very important. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised reflects the latest evidence-based understanding of how children learn.

Learning to read

Neurological research has identified an area of the brain dedicated to the process of reading which Stanislas Dehaene calls ‘the letterbox’. This area is not operational from birth; rather, the neurological pathways are established as we learn the connections between letters and sounds. These pathways and activation of ‘the letterbox’ provide the basis for automatic word recognition and fluent reading.

Reading is complex: it is more than just word recognition. Comprehension plays a vital role in reading too. Comprehension starts with our understanding of oral language and develops rapidly on the back of word and sentence reading.

Both of these are strong reasons for children learning to build words from their letter-sound components at an early age, when their brains are at their most plastic. Little Wandle Letters and Sounds is firmly based on these principles.

How we learn

Effective learning is dependent not only on what is learnt, but on how it is learnt. Dehaene identifies four ‘pillars of learning’. These are simple ideas in themselves, but they form the basis of understanding that unites education with neuroscience and leads to the most effective learning.

These four pillars are central to the resources and teaching approach of Little Wandle Letters and Sounds.

1. Focused attention

Preferably for short periods, regularly and frequently repeated

Our short, daily lessons achieve precisely this focus on what needs to be learnt, without extraneous distracting activity. Videos model how teachers can maintain focused engagement and this is reinforced by exactly matched and engaging resources.

Each lesson gets to the true understanding of the purpose of the learning, not as chanted ‘learning objectives’ written up on a whiteboard, nor as automatic ‘thumbs up’ at the end of a lesson, but by children knowing that each new sound learnt means that they can read more words.

This is immediately demonstrated through reading words and sentences in the lesson, and applied in fully decodable reading books during reading practice sessions.

2. Active engagement

Continual expectation of children in chorus and individual oral response

Dehaene is clear that active engagement does not mean children are left to find out things for themselves, nor that they are involved in poorly focused activities. In Little Wandle lessons, active engagement is achieved through the continual expectation of children in chorus and individual oral response. This is immediately followed up by the activity of reading and writing words and sentences to apply new sounds learnt as well as to practise previously learnt ones.

Further active application comes in regular reading practice sessions with decodable books, demonstrating to children themselves their rapidly growing ability to read.

3. Error feedback

Errors are best countered by a teacher modelling the correct response.

Learners need errors corrected so that they can continually adjust and improve the mental model they are constructing. However, this needs to be achieved without the disincentive of overtly negative response or the creation of a fear of failure. In GPC learning and in word reading, errors are best countered by a teacher modelling the correct response, encouraging the child to repeat this, and so providing the correction without any negativity.

This approach is central to our pedagogy. It is supported in our materials, where mnemonic and word cards, sound buttons, etc. also provide the opportunity to quickly go back to secure learning as a way of correcting errors in a positively encouraging way.

4. Practice and consolidation

Small items of learning are practised and repeated many times.

This repeated practice in our lessons is an essential element of committing learning to memory. Learning is also revisited frequently, both discretely and through direct and immediate application. One lesson in every five is devoted to revision and consolidation, equating to one whole week every half-term.

Learning is also regularly practised and consolidated through application in reading practice sessions with decodable books, in writing sessions, and with further opportunities encouraged throughout the school day.

Parents can find out more by visiting the following website: For parents | Letters and Sounds