Phonics

We teach reading through the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme

Learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn at our school. Everything else depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible. We want your child to love reading – and to want to read for themselves.

The RWI scheme places an emphasis on developing a strong understanding of synthetic phonics as well as reading for meaning, so children quickly develop understanding of texts alongside their ability to decode words.

How will my child be taught to read?

We start by teaching phonics to the children in the foundation stage. This means that they learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters. Ask them to show you what these are. The children also practise reading (and spelling) what we call ‘tricky words’, such as ‘once,’ ‘have,’ ‘said’ and ‘where’.

The children practise their reading with books that match the phonics and the ‘tricky words’ they know. They start thinking that they can read and this does wonders for their confidence.

The teachers read to the children, too, so the children get to know all sorts of stories, poetry and information books. They learn many more words this way and it also helps their writing.

How long will it take to learn to read well?

Learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn at our school. Everything else depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible. We want your child to love reading and to want to read for themselves.

By the end of Year 2, your child should be able to read aloud books that are at the right level for his or her age and they will progress onto our Accelerated reading programme.

What can I do to help? Is there anything that I shouldn’t do?

Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘push’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. You can hear how to say the sounds here.

Practising these letter sounds and hearing your child read daily will ensure they make fantastic progress. There are also many fantastic resources for parents through different apps and websites.