Reading & Phonics

Reading and Phonics

At Preshute Primary we believe that reading is an essential life skill and we are committed to enabling our children to become lifelong readers. Reading is a skill that provides access to the wider curriculum and life-long learning, laying the foundation for future success and employment. Our children quickly learn the foundations of reading and writing by following the Read, Write, Inc phonics programme. Children learn to read fluently and at speed and then focus on developing their comprehension skills, extending vocabulary and spelling.

Intent

 “Teach a child to read and keep that child reading and we will change everything. And I mean everything.” by Jean Winterson, author, epitomises the intent of the Read Write Inc. programme.

 The Read, Write Inc. programme is a systematic, synthetic phonics programme that explicitly teaches children to read fluently and accurately. All staff at Preshute Primary have been trained to deliver the Read, Write Inc phonics programme regardless of Key Stage or role in school. At Preshute Primary, we value reading as a key life skill and one that lays the foundations for lifelong learning. We want every child to learn to decode quickly and accurately so that reading becomes effortless. This enables children to develop their comprehension so that they can then begin to read for pleasure. We assess our children every half term to identify their “Goldilocks spot” (not too easy, not too hard) and place them into appropriate phonics groups with other children at a similar challenge level. Our school is committed to ensuring that every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities. Lower attaining children are identified from our rigorous assessments and targeted for intervention to help them “keep up, not catch up”.

 Alongside teaching the children to become readers, we are driven at Preshute to foster a love of reading, enriching children’s learning through carefully designed teaching activities that utilise imaginative stories and thought-provoking texts, through a variety of ways such as; guided reading sessions, author visits, class books, celebrating the summer reading challenge in Wiltshire libraries, World Book Day and making time for book talk in class.

 Being immersed in reading greatly helps the children to develop their writing skills – extending vocabulary, techniques which entice the reader, use of punctuation and how to create imagery. Teacher planned reading and writing units to complement each other, for example children can draw upon the high-quality texts from guided reading sessions to model their own writing.

 Implementation

From the very start of the children’s time in Reception until the end of Year 2, they will receive a daily, high-quality phonics lesson, systematically teaching them how to read and write by following the Read Write Inc programme. Through Read, Write, Inc phonics programme children learn a simple alphabetic code followed by a more complex one.  All reading books progress cumulatively, matched to the sound’s children are learning and already know. The teaching of phonics is of high priority and is taught daily by trained members of staff.

 By following the Read Write Inc programme, children are taught to:

• - decode letter/ sound correspondences quickly and effortlessly, using their phonic knowledge and skills
• - read ‘tricky’ words on sight (those which cannot be sounded out phonetically)
• - understand what they have read
• - read aloud with fluency and expression
• - spell quickly and easily by segmenting the sounds in words
• - learn how to form the letters of the alphabet by saying the mnemonic for each letter.

 In the Early Years, there are many opportunities to develop essential phonic knowledge and skills across the day within continuous provision. The children are encouraged to transfer the skills they learn in phonics sessions into their independent reading and writing

 Children are grouped according to their progress in reading as these skills develop quicker than writing. Those children who are not making expected progress in phonics and reading will have 1:1 or small group targeted intervention.

 Staff ensure that children read books that are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and the ‘red words’ (undecodable words). This is so they experience success and gain confidence that they are readers. Children following the Read Write Inc programme will have a copy of the book they are reading in their group to read at home as well as an additional home reading book of the same level to give them further opportunities to develop their reading. They will also bring home a ‘Read to me’ book, chosen by them from either the class book corner or the school library to share with an adult at home. They are able to enjoy a book that is more complex than what they are able to read themselves in order to explore new vocabulary and sentence structures, in order to further develop an enjoyment of reading at home.

 From Key Stage Two, the children have frequent guided reading sessions to further develop their reading skills, such as the retrieval of information, understanding inference and exploring new vocabulary.

 Teachers will also promote a love of reading through sharing a ‘class book’ daily with their class.

Impact 

Children become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1 due to the high-quality systematic teaching of phonics. Children are then able to apply their skills to books of their choosing, developing based on their interests and enjoyment. Embedding the alphabetic code early on means that children quickly learn to write simple words and sentences. Developing reading skills early on also ensures that children are able to access the whole curriculum in school and beyond.

 Attainment in phonics is measured by ongoing assessment throughout the Read, Write, Inc programme and also with the phonics screen test at the end of Year 1. Reading is planned and assessed using age-related objectives. Standardised reading tests are also used across the year from Year 3 to Year 6 to ensure that our children are meeting age-related expectations.

 Results for Reading and  Phonics