Phonics & Reading
How we teach reading
At Edmondsley Primary School we want our children to be fluent, confident and passionate readers. Reading enables your child to become an independent life-long learner.
Learning to read is one of the most important things your child will learn at school. Everything else depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible.
We want your child to love reading – and to want to read for themselves. This is why we work hard to make sure children develop a love of books, as well as learning to read.
At Edmondsley Primary and Nursery School we use the Department for Education’s accredited ‘Read Write Inc. Phonics’ programme.
We start to learn to read by teaching phonics to children in Nursery, who are developmentally ready – usually in the summer term before they start Reception Class. Prior to this programme, our Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum includes activities which help children prepare them for reading (and writing).
What is Read, Write, Inc?
Read, Write, Inc Phonics programme is a synthetic phonics programme that teaches children the sounds in English, the letters that represent them, and how to form the letters when writing. Read Write Inc. Phonics includes reading books written using only the letters they have learnt at each level (and a small number of separately taught tricky words such as ‘said’ and ‘the’). The children quickly feel confident and successful.
Overview
Nursery
- When appropriate, adults will model the sounds letters make whilst writing children’s names on their paintings/pictures etc.
- Usually in the summer term, children will be introduced to the initial sounds in short sessions and learn how to write the letters using rhymes to help them.
Reception
- Children will take part in daily phonics sessions.
- Children will learn how to read the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down.
- Children will learn the single letter sounds (l, h, e etc.) and some additional digraphs that we call Special Friends (th, ch, sh etc.) and the corresponding letters. A picture and rhyme help the children remember, e.g. ay stay and play. They will learn 44 sounds (phonemes) by the end of Reception.
- Children use Fred Frog to help them blend and segment sounds to make words. There are lots of games that you can play with your child to develop blending skills.
- When the children can blend successfully, they will begin to read storybooks matched to their phonic knowledge. These storybooks will start to introduce ‘red words’ which are tricky words such as ‘the’ and ‘said’. The red words progression chart link can be found below.
- The children will continue to learn the correct formation of letters through the rhymes taught in Nursery and will begin to write words using their phonic knowledge.
- By the end of Reception, most children can write a sentence.
Year 1 & 2
- Daily sessions of RWI phonics continue to take place.
- Children will continue to be taught in the correct stage group for their level of ability following regular assessments. Some children are taught in mixed age groups, e.g. children from year 1 and year 2 may be in the same group.
- When your child is ready, they will continue to learn more sounds or phonemes (digraphs-ir, oa, ew and trigraphs-air, are, ear). They will learn 75 sounds by the end of year 1.
- Children will continue to learn to write using the sounds/phonemes they know. Usually, by the end of year 1, children are able to write several sentences using phonics they know with finger spaces and punctuation.
- Children will bring home a reading book (paper ditty), a book bag book and a leisure book. These will be changed regularly by the group teacher. It is very important to bring your child’s book bag to school every day so the reading teacher can easily change books and access reading records. Please hear your child reading their paper ditty and book bag book as often as possible to help them achieve success in reading. The leisure book is to share – your child may not be able to read this book but they have chosen this to look at with an adult.
- Most children in Y2 will complete the RWI programme and move to English lessons which will continue to develop the children’s reading and writing in line with the National Curriculum. At this stage the children will move to the school’s Oxford Owl reading scheme at around white level.
How is RWI organised at Edmondsley Primary School?
RWI sessions in nursery are short and usually take place in the summer term before children begin Reception Class. Very small groups of children take part in a session at the same time.
From Reception until the end of Year 2, your child will work with children who are at the same reading level. This is so that the teaching can be focused on the correct stage of their learning rather than their chronological age. This also means they are in small groups with a lower child to adult ratio. Some older children in KS2 will continue to access the Read Write Inc. Phonics programmes if they need further consolidation and development of reading skills.
We assess children’s reading skills each half term so we can ensure they are in the most appropriate group. Children will move to a different group if they are making faster progress or may have one-to-one tutoring, additional videos, additional reading if we think they need some extra support.
In Key Stage 2 (years 3, 4, 5 and 6), the children undertake daily reading lessons (lasting 30 minutes). Three of these lessons are led by a teacher focusing on understanding and comprehension whilst two use the Reading Plus programme to build fluency and speed of reading. The children have a wide selection of reading materials to choose from and take part in projects linked to reading, with reward systems in place for encouragement.
Teachers regularly read to the children, too, so the children get to know and love all sorts of stories, poetry and information books. This helps to extend children’s vocabulary and comprehension, as well as supporting their writing.
How long will it take to learn to read well?
Every child is different and children will learn to read at different speeds. By the end of Year 2, most children will be able to read aloud books that are at the right level for his or her age and the children will have a good understanding of the story. The children are assessed every half term and they may move groups according to what they know. These groups are pitched at exactly the right level for what they know and what they need to learn. Some children who have special educational needs will access a modified version of RWI which is more multi-sensory and play based.
In the summer term of Year 1, the government asks us to do a phonics check of all the children. We will let you know how your child has done in the end of year reports. Children who do not pass the phonics check in Year 1 retake the assessment during Year 2 to ensure that they have made progress. We will also inform you of these results.
What does school offer to give my child reading incentives?
Once your child has completed the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, classes read shared texts where reading and writing combine, providing children with a deeper understanding of texts. Books are carefully chosen to meet the needs and interests of the cohort as well as keeping in line with National Curriculum guidelines. Texts used often link into our wider curriculum, with history, geography and social themes proving to be particularly popular with our pupils.
Children’s progression through the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme and subsequently the reading schemes is rewarded and celebrated through certificates. Though the gift of being able to read is reward in itself!
In school, the children have access to a wide range of books both to improve and build reading as well as for reading for pleasure. School have made a significant investment in a range of books to encourage your child to read texts suited to their own personal interests. Book schemes include: Bug Club, Oxford Reading Tree and Collins Big Cat but we primarily use Oxford Owl books which complement our Read Write Inc scheme. Children are encouraged to read at least three times a week at home.
What can parents/carers do to help?
Nursery parents can use the rhymes which help their child to form the letters of their name correctly. Our Nursery Teacher will provide information on this as soon as your child is showing an interest in writing their name. These rhymes will also help the children recall the sound for reading in the future.
In Reception class, your child’s teacher will send home links to videos to watch which reinforce the single letter sounds. The speedier your child can recall these sounds, the more successful they will be when reading. Playing Fred games with your child to help them develop blending and segmenting will also help. There are links below to watch the Fred games.
Even before your child starts to read, we encourage Nursery family members to choose books from our Nursery ‘library’ and from Reception class we send home ‘reading for pleasure’ books. These books are for parents to read and enjoy with their children, talking about pictures and the stories. We continue to send these books home throughout your child’s journey through school to foster the love of reading and encourage the children to choose books they are interested in.
Please find links to additional documents/websites here:
