Reading and Phonics

Our core values

To be ambitious, to be kind and to give

During phonics lessons, using Read Write Inc Phonics, children will learn to read fluently with confidence. Being able to read confidently enables children to access many other areas of the curriculum. We want children to be exposed to a wide range of books as a way of opening up other worlds and cultures.

Where we grow in faith, grow in learning and grow our future world

At Barningham CEVC Primary School we promote reading for pleasure. Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. Reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.

The five key principles that underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions:

1) Participation – As they are in small groups, children participate fully in every session. They are able to maintain high levels of concentration and they do not miss key elements of the teaching.

2) Praise – Children work together as partners. They take turns to teach and praise each other. They are motivated by praise from their teachers and teaching assistants.

3) Pace – Sessions are fast paced and lively. This keeps every child fully engaged and on task.

4) Purpose – Every instructor has been trained in Read Write Inc. methods. They know the purpose of each activity, and how it leads into the next.

5) Passion – Instructors, too, become passionate about their teaching as they see the children enjoying the progress they are making.

Implement

The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets

Set 1:

Set 1 Sounds are taught in the following order together with rhymes to help children form the letters correctly and instantly recognise sounds ready for blending. Set 1 sounds are taught first.

Fred Talk

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 school we use a mascot called Fred to help the children to decode words, we call it, ‘Fred Talk’. E.g. m-o-p, c-a-t, m-a-n, sh-o-p, b-l-a-ck.

Reading Books

Children will be introduced to ‘Ditty books’ when they successfully begin to read single words. The short vowels should be kept short and sharp:
Children use sound-blending (Fred Talk) to read short ditties. They will bring these home once they have read and discussed the book in class. Children will then be challenged to use their developing phonic knowledge to write short sentences.

Within all the books children will have red and green words to learn to help them to become speedy readers. Red words are words that are not easily decodable and challenge words to extend children’s vocabulary. Green words are linked to the sounds they have been learning and are easily decodable.

Set 2 and 3:

The children are then taught Set 2 Sounds – the long vowels.

When they are very confident with all of set 1 and 2 they are taught Set 3 Sounds.

Nonsense words (Alien words)

As well as learning to read and blend real words children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading ‘Nonsense words’. These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term.

Dots and dashes represent the sound each letter makes.

Once your child has been introduced and taught these words in school we will send them home for you to continue practising with your child.

During the RWI session children will read the book three times and at each new reading they will have plenty of opportunities to practise using their developing comprehension skills. You may have heard your child talking about ‘hold or proof read a sentence’.

Hold a sentence is an activity that encourages children to remember a whole sentence while focusing on spelling and punctuation.

Proof read a sentence is an activity that encourages children to spot mistakes in a sentence and work with a partner to correct the errors.

Spelling:

Each day the children are supported to develop their spelling skills (This will only start in Reception when children are ready to write and form their letters). Children will use first use ‘Fred fingers’ to first sound out a word before they write it down. Children learn how to spell rather than just get tested. Furthermore, this way of teaching spellings allows children to use Fred fingers whenever they get stuck with spelling a word. Children pinch each sound on fingers before writing the word.

Impact

Assessment

At the start of the new academic year, each child in Reception and Key Stage 1 is assessed on their letter recognition and reading within the first few weeks. The assessments will be used to assign each child to their own small, exclusive group for daily sessions with a trained RWI teacher. These groups are organised according to the children’s specific needs, and the specific sounds, letters and comprehension skills needed are taught in a secure and engaging way. Direct teaching underpins Read Write Inc. It is the quickest route to ensuring all children learn to read and write. Every day, children learn new sounds, and review previous sounds and words. They apply what they’ve been taught by reading words containing the sounds they know in matched decodable books and other texts, and write these sounds in individual words and, later, sentences.

As children progress through the levels, they are regularly assessed to ensure they are placed in the group that is appropriate for them. If a child is found to be struggling they will receive additional phonics tutoring sessions to catch up. Children may also be ‘fast-tracked’ to a more able group when their progress warrants this.