We use 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds', a validated systematic synthetic phonics programme, to teach our children to become fluent readers, a vital foundational skill at the heart of all that we do.  We start teaching phonics in a fun and engaging way in Nursery and follow the Little Wandle programme week by week in Reception and Year 1, with the aim of children passing the national Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1. Phonics teaching continues in Year 2 to ensure that each child becomes a fluent reader, using the Rapid Catch-Up scheme as necessary to ensure that any child who needs additional phonics teaching receives this.  Likewise, any children in KS2 who are not fluent readers yet will receive additional interventions to ensure they catch up as quickly as possible. As a result, our children are able to decode and read texts with a degree of automaticity which allows them to read with comprehension and understanding.