Children who read regularly or are read to regularly 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:

• Read Write Inc, a program to help your child read at school
• Encouraging children to develop a love of books by reading to them, at home and at school
• Giving children access to a wide range of books at school and at home

 At Wawne Primary School we use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) to give your child the best possible start with their early reading skills. We have put together a guide to how the RWI programme works together with some useful links.

What is Read Write Inc?

Read Write Inc (RWI) is a phonics 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 4-8. However, at Wawne Primary School we begin the programme in Nursery and will continue teaching RWI to children beyond the age of 7 if they still need support in their reading.

When appropriate our Nursery children will be introduced to the initial sounds in short sessions.

In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down.

In Reading the children:

• learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts – see below
• learn to read words using Fred talk and sound blending
• read from a range of storybooks and non-fictions books matched to their phonic knowledge
• work well with partners
• develop comprehension skills in stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It' discussion questions

 In writing the children:

• learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases
• learn to write words by using Fred Talk
• learn to build sentences by practising sentences out loud before they write 

 The children work in pairs so that they:

• answer every question
• practise every activity with their partner
• take turns in talking and reading to each other
• develop ambitious vocabulary

 In Year 1, 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 20 minutes.  Once children become fluent speedy readers they will move on to Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar lessons as well as Guided Reading lessons.

Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions:  

Purpose – know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about

Participation – ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning

Praise – ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability

Pace – teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning

Passion – be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally.

 

What is the Year 1 phonics screening check?

The Year 1 phonics screening check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.

Children have to read 40 words- 20 real words and 20 nonsense (made up) words that the children have to decode and read.  For the last few years, the pass mark for the test has been 32/40.  This may or may not change.

It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support by their school to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to retake the check the next year so that schools can track pupils until they are able to decode.

 

Further information about how we teach phonics can be found in the Read Write Inc Information Guide below:

 

 

WPS Read Write Inc Information Guide

[pdf 291KB]