Phonics
How do we teach?
At Manor Primary School we follow Read Write Inc. phonics. This is a complete literacy 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 programme is designed for children aged 4-7. It integrates phonics with comprehension, writing, grammar, spelling and handwriting, using engaging partner work and drama.
Children are taught by Teachers and TAs who are trained to teach the programme. Each lesson consists of a speed sound lesson, spellings, reading and writing in their ‘Get Writing’ books. As the groups progress, they also move on to vocabulary, grammar and comprehension-based tasks.
We start by teaching children to read and blend the first thirty Set 1 sounds. Once they have conquered this skill, they start reading stories and texts that have words made up of the sounds they know. This means that they can embed and apply their phonic knowledge and start to build their reading fluency. Once secure, children learn Set 2 and Set 3 sounds and then read texts with increasingly more complex sounds and graphemes. Throughout this process, there is a focus on comprehension, reading with expression and reading for enjoyment.
Children are taught in groups of 4-30 which reflect their phonic knowledge and reading fluency. Children are assessed regularly to ensure that they are continuing to be taught in a group that matches their phonic knowledge.
Alongside the RWI reading books used in lessons, we also send home the RWI phonics book bag books, meaning children bring home two books per cycle. These correlate with the group that the children are in, allowing the children to practise reading a phonetically matched book at home and extending that learning by reading the corresponding sequel book also.
Children are also sent home with phonics sound books which are set as homework.
Why do we teach in this way?
Read Write Inc. is a consistent and systematic teaching approach that has been designed to meet the key literacy aims of the National Curriculum. The grouping method of RWI enables us to teach specifically to each child’s needs and the flexibility of regular assessment ensures that each child is learning at the speed appropriate for them.
Staff are kept up to date with weekly training sessions delivered by the Reading Leader and we receive regular development days from our RWI Trainer ensuring consistent quality teaching.
The RWI phonics programme gives our Foundation Stage children the best possible start in their literacy learning journey and prepares our Year 1 children for the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check. In Year 2, the programme continues to build on the fluency and comprehension skills learnt in Year 1. Our aim is for the majority of children to finish the RWI programme at the end of Year 1/beginning of Year 2, with children becoming confident fluent readers who enjoy a wide variety of texts.
How is this adapted for vulnerable learners and high attainers?
Children are assessed by the Reading Leader every half term; however, they can be reassessed at any point. The Reading Leader attends each phonics group throughout the week to check on individual as well as group progress. Any child that is considered to be a vulnerable learner will be assigned to our RWI Teaching Assistant who is dedicated to providing high quality 1:1 interventions every day for all vulnerable learners.
In addition, teachers will also provide extra classroom-based interventions for the most vulnerable learners. RWI is grouped at 11 different levels and all RWI teachers are able to flag high attainers. The Reading Leader can move the children to a higher-level group as and when is necessary, allowing them to be appropriately challenged. High attainers are also able to take extra reading books home as their fluency develops, as well as being challenged in focused literacy lessons.
