Read Write Inc
Phonics at St Peter’s CofE Primary School
At St Peter’s we aim for all our children to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about reading.
Children who read regularly, or are read to, 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:
At St Peter’s we use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) to give your child the best possible start with their reading and writing.
We have put together a guide to explain how the RWI programme works, together with some useful links.
‘Every child has the right to read because without being able to read children have absolutely no access into their education’ (Ruth Miskin, Creator of RWI).
Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads widely will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who reads challenging material is a child who will learn quickly and effectively. The more a child learns, the more he/she will want to find out. Using RWI, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into comprehending what they read. It allows children to spell effortlessly so that they can concentrate on composing what they write.
Year 1 and above
Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds in daily RWI phonics sessions. We want children to become confident and fluent readers, so accuracy in reading is vital.
Mrs Hutchinson is our designated Read Write Inc lead. If you have any questions about RWI, contact the school and ask to speak to her. Please take the time to read through this page, as it will provide invaluable information on how you can help and support your child in reading.
What is Read Write Inc?
Read Write Inc (RWI) is a 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. At ST Peter’s we start the programme in Nursery. The programme traditionally runs until children reach the age of 7. We assess the children throughout their time on the programme. There are times when children are still on the programme after the age of 7. These children will have really targeted interventions.
Please watch What is Read Write Inc Phonics? to help you with understanding what RWI phonics is.
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.
Nursery
Children are introduced to the letter formation rhymes, almost immediately, when joining the Nursery. Children are exposed to Fred Talk with the teaching staff playing Fred Games with the children. Your child is taught to hear sounds and blend them together in sequence, to make a word. In the Summer term, children due to move up to Reception, in the Autumn term, will be introduced to the initial sounds. The children will take part in daily five minute sessions.
Click here to see snippets of Fred Talk!
Reception
In Reception, all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. Those who are ready, will begin to read and write simple words within books and begin to take books home, linked to their reading level ability. Children will take part in fun daily RWI lessons. This lesson involves the teaching of a new sound, decoding, blending and writing words and eventually moving on to reading short story books.
Reading
The children:
Writing
The children:
Talking
The children work in pairs so that they:
Year 1 and above
Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds daily during their RWI phonics sessions. We want children to become confident and fluent readers, so accuracy in reading is vital.
What are the five key principles that underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions?
What does a Read Write Inc lesson look like?
Each lesson has the same structure, so that children focus on the new learning, rather than worrying about what is going to happen next. Children are grouped according to their ability, so that they only tackle work that is achievable, making it more enjoyable and allowing learning and confidence to flourish side by side
Click here to find out more about a Read Write Inc lesson
Speed Sounds and Read Write Inc. Stages
If your child is learning to read at school with Read Write Inc. Phonics, they will be at one of the following stages:
Learning Set 1 Speed Sounds:
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
Special friends
sh th chq u ng nk ck
Check if your children can read these sounds. Make sure they say sounds like ‘sss’, NOT letter names like ‘es’. Watch the Phonics Pure Sounds video to help you.
Learning to Blend with Set 1 Speed Sounds:
m-a-t mat
c-a-t cat
g-o-t got
f-i-sh fish
s-p-l-a-sh splash
Watch this Sound Blending Phonics video to help you teach sound blending at home.
Learning Set 2 Speed Sounds:
ay ee igh ow (as in blow) oo (as in zoo)
oo (as in look) ar or air ir ou (as in out) oy
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 are made up of the sounds the children are learning e.g. d-u-t (dut), d-oi-n (doin), h-e-sh (hesh).
Learning Set 3 Speed Sounds:
ea (as in tea)
oi (as in spoil)
a-e ( as in cake)
i-e (as in smile)
o-e ( as in home)
u-e (as in huge)
aw (as in yawn)
are (as in care)
ur (as in nurse)
Reading the Storybooks
Children will be introduced to ‘Ditty books’ when they successfully begin to read single words.
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 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.
Dots and dashes represent the sound each letter makes.
During the RWI sessions, children will read the book three times, this is to ensure that children become overly familiar with the text and become fluent and speedy readers- this is all part of the reading process! At each new reading stage, they will have plenty of opportunities to practise using their developing comprehension skills. You may have heard your child talking about ‘hold a sentence’. This is an activity that encourages children to remember a whole sentence while focusing on spelling and punctuation.
Spelling
Spelling will only start in Reception when children are ready to write and form their letters. Children will use ‘Fred Fingers’ to sound out a word first, before they write it down. Children learn how to spell using ‘Fred Fingers’ 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. Watch this video clip of how we teach using ‘Fred Fingers’
How to help your child with Phonics!
Don't forget you don't have to read just books - subtitles alongside TV programmes, shopping lists, road signs, web pages, magazines, newspapers etc. are useful ways to practise reading.
Find out how children learn to read with phonics, and how you can help your child's reading at home.
Getting ready for reading (Ages 3-4)
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading/getting-ready-for-reading-ages-3-4/
Click here for some Fred Games you can play with your child!
Starting to read (Ages 4-5)
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading/starting-to-read-ages-4-5/
Building on reading skills (Ages 5-6)
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading/building-on-reading-skills-ages-5-6/
Developing confidence as a reader (Ages 6-7)
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading/developing-confidence-as-a-reader-ages-6-7/
Building independence (Ages 7-9)
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading/building-independence-as-a-reader-ages-7-9/
Encouraging reading (Ages 9-11)
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading/building-independence-as-a-reader-ages-7-9/
Reading in Key Stage 2
Once children are fluent in their phonic knowledge, they move onto Accelerated Reader. This program enables children's reading choices to be carefully focused on their reading ability ensuring that they make optimum progress. It also allows them to develop their understanding of texts by retrieving and recalling key information from the text.
Additionally, children participate in a daily Re-think Reading session where they will undertake a range of reading activities to support the development of their reading comprehension.
Reading for pleasure
We believe that developing a love of reading is essential for children. It opens a world of knowledge and imagination and is one of the most fundamental learning dispositions for children to develop. We achieve this through weekly library time where children will select a parent share book to explore the interests and widen their exposure to texts. Additionally, we read to children Daily to support them to develop an appreciation of a range of texts.
