Phonics

We aim for all our children to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about reading.

Children who read regularly or are read to regularly have the opportunity to open the doors to so many different worlds! More importantly, reading will give your child the tools to become independent life-long learners.

We can achieve this together through:

Read Write Inc., a program to help to your child read at school
Encouraging children to develop a love of books by reading to them daily, at home and at school
Giving children access to a wide range of books at school and at home

We are about to introduce Read Write Inc. phonics (RWI) to give your child the best possible start with their literacy. Our RWI guide below will show you how the programme works and provide you with links to websites we think you’ll find useful.

We encourage all parents/careers to read the information below. This invaluable advice can help you support your child with their reading. If you have questions about RWI, please contact us.

What is Read Write Inc.?

Read Write Inc. (RWI), developed by Ruth Miskin, is a phonics complete literacy programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. The programme is designed for children aged 4-7 but we will continue teaching RWI to our children beyond the age of 7 if they still need support in their reading.

Find out more

How will RWI be taught?

All children are assessed regularly by our RWI lead teacher so they work with children at the same level. This allows complete participation in lessons.

Reception

In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down.

Reading

The children:

learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts – see below
learn to read words using Fred talk and sound blending
read from a range of storybooks and non-fictions books matched to their phonic knowledge
work well with partners
develop comprehension skills in stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’ discussion questions

Writing

The children:

learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases
learn to write words by using Fred Talk
learn to build sentences by practising sentences out loud before they write

Talking

The children work in pairs so that they:

answer every question
practise every activity with their partner
take turns in talking and reading to each other
develop ambitious vocabulary

Year 1 & Year 2

Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily sessions of RWI phonics last for one hour. Once children become fluent speedy readers they will move on to literacy in Year 1 and Active English in Year 2.

Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions:

Purpose – Know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about.

Participation – Ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning.

Praise – Ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability.

Pace – Teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning.

Passion – Be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally.

How children are taught to read

Fred talk

Before you start to teach your child, practise saying the sounds below. These are the sounds we use to speak in English.

We use pure sounds (‘m’ not ‘muh’, ‘s’ not ‘suh’, etc.) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily.

At the Academy we use a puppet called Fred who is an expert on sounding out words! We call it, ‘Fred Talk’. For example:

m-o-p

c-a-t

m-a-n

sh-o-p

b-l-a-ck

View the blending sounds with Fred video

To help at home

Your child will start to bring books home when they are confident readers. Please help them to read and give lots of praise!

If you have any questions about RWI, please contact us. We’re always happy to help.

Year 1 phonics screening check

The Year 1 phonics screening check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.

It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support by their school to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to retake the check so that schools can track pupils until they are able to decode.