Phonics Overview

Phonics Lead: Miss C. Jenkins

Why we teach what we teach (our intent)

At St. Marys we aim for all our children to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about reading. 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 use a programme called Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) to give your child the best possible start with their reading. Miss Jenkins is our Read Write Inc lead teacher, so if you have questions about RWI, contact school who can refer you to her.

How we teach it (our implementation)

What is Read Write Inc?

Read Write Inc (RWI) is a systematic synthetic phonics 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 scheme provides a systematic approach in which children connect new sounds, images and phrases.

The sounds the children learn are not taught in alphabetical order. We teach them 3 sets of sounds. 

These are the Set 1 Speed Sounds written with one letter:

m  a  s  d  t  i  n  p  g  o  c  k  u  b  f  e  l  h  r  j  v  y  w  z  x

These are the sounds written with two letters (your child will call these ‘special friends’):

sh  th  ch  qu  ng  nk  ck

Check if your child can read these sounds. Make sure they say sounds like ‘mmm’, not letter names like ‘em’. 

Please see below a speed sound chart which includes all the sounds your child will learn. 

Each child will take home a weekly RWI book that links to the phonemes (sounds) they are practicing that week in class. Their daily reading book will also link to the phonemes (sounds) that they have been practising in class. Reading these books together will help your child develop fluency and confidence.  

How will RWI be taught?

Children are grouped and taught according to their rate of progress. All children are assessed half termly by our RWI lead teacher and class teachers, so groups can be changed regularly. This allows for complete participation in lessons and children to receive the appropriate level of challenge.

Nursery

The teaching of reading begins in Nursery where the children are introduced to letter sounds, and over the year, become familiar with all the initial sounds of the letters of the alphabet. 

Reception

In Reception, children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. The children will learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts and phrases. They will learn to read words using 'Fred talk' and sound blending. Children develop comprehension skills by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It' discussion questions.

Children learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases. They will learn to write words by using 'Fred Talk' and begin to build sentences.

Year One & Year Two

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 45 minutes. 

The phonics screening check is taken by all children in Year 1 in England. It is designed to give teachers and parent’s information on how your child is progressing in phonics. It will help to identify whether your child needs additional support at this stage so that they do not fall behind in this vital early reading skill. If your child does not pass the check they will retake the check in Year Two.

The difference our teaching makes (our impact)

Children will leave KS1 with the ability to decode most words they come across and read with accuracy and fluency. Children will be able to read ‘like a story-teller’ and discuss many aspects of books to answer comprehension questions verbally.

Progress Expectations: