Reading & Phonics

• PACE – no time is wasted during teaching sessions. Children are active and involved in a fun and creative way. The aim is for the children to complete the programme as quickly as possible.
• PRAISE – teachers praise the children constantly throughout the teaching sessions. Children learn more quickly when they are praised for what they do well, rather than nagged for what they do wrong. The children are encouraged to praise each other.
• PURPOSE – each activity has a very clear purpose. The teacher will set this purpose at the beginning of the lesson so that the children know exactly what they will be learning.
• PARTICIPATION – all children take part in all parts of the lesson. Full participation is gained through partner work and choral response.
• PASSION – as a staff we are passionate about our teaching and the benefits of the Read, Write Inc. programme. We love teaching the sessions and this enthusiasm rubs off onto the children.

Your child will:

• Learn to write the letter/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds.
• Learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (Fred fingers).
• Learn to write simple, then more complex sentences.
• Compose stories.

Your child will learn how to:

• Answer questions
• Practise every activity orally.
• Take turns talking and listening to each other.
• Give positive praise to each other.

The study of English promotes reading as a way of acquiring knowledge and as a way of exploring the world in different ways which enrich children’s understanding.

Children will be immersed in a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry throughout their primary journey. Reading is prioritised to allow access to the full curriculum offer, as it is our belief that reading is a necessity for children as it lays the foundations for many of the skills they will explore on their academic journey.

In order to teach children to develop their reading fluency and comprehension skills further, we believe it is vital that children experience high quality modelling from adults in school.

They are given support where appropriate and the opportunity for independent practice of skills. As a class the areas of development are identified and focused intervention takes place during the lesson.

Shared Reading forms part of the daily phonics lessons and is led by class teachers.  All texts are linked to the child's phonic ability. Children enjoy one focus text per week and learning activities support accurate and fluent reading to facilitate comprehension. 

While your child is learning to read, they will be given a Read Write Inc ‘book bag book’. This book will contain all of the graphemes and words that they have been learning in school and therefore it will be an exciting text that they will be able to read themselves. Reading this book every day with your child will build their confidence and fluency. Sending books home that your child finds difficult to read may hinder their learning and stop them from enjoying their reading journey. Of course, parents or carers can offer some help if needed!

Your child will also be given a ‘reading scheme book’. These books are matched to each child's phonics ability and are closely monitored by teachers to ensure that children are reading books of an appropriate level. Your child may find some words in these books more difficult so reading and discussing these books together is very important.

It is really important that parents or carers listen to their child read every night if possible.

Finally, your child will be given a library book; this book is for the parent or carer to read to the child and it is crucial at helping the child expand their vocabulary and develop their love for reading. This book is not necessarily one that they will be able to read themselves, especially if your child is at the beginning of their reading journey, and they will probably need an adult to read it with them. These books are perfect for sharing as a family, using as a bedtime story or showing to a friend or grandparent and help children to create positive associations with books and reading.

As outlined above, all children will be given two reading books per week plus one school library book and no more.  It is important for parents to understand that ‘racing’ through the reading scheme does not help children to read. Children learn to read well when they enjoy what they are reading, can talk about it, infer, predict and want to read more!! If you feel that your child needs to read more please read favourite books from home or choose books from the local library. The more books children read the better readers and writers they become.

Your child will not receive three new books on the same day each week. Please ensure your child’s reading books are in school every day so that books can be changed and recorded when needed.

Our English curriculum provides many opportunities for writing with real purpose, including poetry, fiction and non-fiction.

Children are actively encouraged to challenge themselves in writing lessons to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding of different text types and genres. Across the study of English, children will be exposed to excellent examples of a wide variety of texts, and will be given many opportunities to explore the role of the author.

Across all writing activities, children will be encouraged to enhance and extend their vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, and will develop their ability to construct and manipulate sentences for effect.

The development of spelling, punctuation and grammar is also a key part of our English curriculum, and is embedded within our writing lessons. From letter formation at the beginning of their academic journey, to writing narratives in Year 2, teachers encourage children to have the highest standards in English.

Reading-Rocks-Newsletter-December-2022.pdf