Phonics - Read Write Inc.

Teaching Children to Read at Westgate

Here at Westgate Primary School we aim for all our children, including SEN and disadvantaged children, to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about reading.

The reading programme we use is Read Write Inc. This is a structured, synthetic phonics based programme, designed to ensure all children aged 4 - 7 learn to read accurately and fluently.

Synthetic phonics is a method of teaching where words are broken up into the smallest units of sound (phonemes). Children learn to make connections between the written representation (graphemes) and the sounds of spoken language (phonemes). Fred the Frog helps the children learn to read – poor Fred can only say sounds and is not able to pronounce whole words!

British Values

By connecting our British Values through the teaching of Reading, we explore issues that affect us all in our lives and this helps inform decisions that will shape our future. For example, within the reading section of Read, Write Inc., children will explore individual liberty and mutual respect, where they learn to understand that they need to take turns and listen to what their partner has to say.

Reception

As soon as children enter our Reception class, they begin to learn the sounds for each letter of the alphabet plus some digraphs (ch, th, sh, ng and nk). Alongside this, they are taught to blend the sounds together to read words. For example, the first set of sounds they learn are ‘m, a, s, t, d’ – once they know these, they learn how to blend them together to make words such as ‘mat, sad, sat’. Reading books are introduced once the children know all of these sounds and can blend them to form simple words.

During RWI sessions, children use their knowledge of phonemes and are encouraged to have a go at writing words by sounding them out and recording the sounds they hear. This takes place during teacher led sessions and there are also plenty of opportunities during child-initiated sessions, with a range of materials and writing prompts available.

From the beginning of Reception, children promptly begin whole class daily phonics lessons. From the end of the Autumn Term, the children are split into small groups that are matched to their needs and are regularly assessed informally and formally. They begin to learn more complex sounds and to recognise how groups of letters sound in words i.e. ‘igh’ as in ‘night’.

Years 1 and 2

In Years 1 and 2, pupils follow the same structure as Reception but continue to work on more complex sounds, building up their ability to read more and more complicated words until they complete the Read Write Inc. programme.

They continue to be regularly assessed and work in small groups daily. The reading books they use in daily sessions and those they take home are closely matched to the sounds to their reading ability; pupils are never asked to read a book that contains sounds they have not already been taught.

We expect all children to become fluent readers. For those pupils who have not completed the Read Write Inc. programme, we ensure they receive daily reading support until they have caught up with their peers.

For more information about Read Write Inc please follow the link here.

Read Write Inc. Information for Parents

Read Write Inc at Westgate

Read Write Inc