Phonics
At Lakelands Primary School, we believe that reading is the key to unlocking learning across all other areas of the curriculum. It is for this reason that we have adopted a rich, book-based curriculum which encourages reading of books and other kinds of texts. We have selected a range of high quality texts that we use as a starting point for each topic.
“Schools that take the business of reading for pleasure seriously, where teachers read, talk with enthusiasm and recommend books, and where provision for reading is planned carefully, are more likely to succeed with their pupils’ reading.” (Ofsted)
Alongside our topic, we will teach a discrete phonics lesson every day using the Read Write Inc phonics programme (RWI). It is a systematic approach to learning letters and sounds that enables children to read and write successfully.
Pupils are assessed in their phonics regularly in school, with a national Phonics Screening Check at the end of Y1.
How Does Read Write Inc Help My Child Learn to Read?
Through RWI children will:
- Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter(s)
- Use pictures as a prompt for recognising sounds
- Use Fred talk to encourage blending of sounds to read words. Fred can only read pure sounds, so the children help Fred by blending the sounds so that they can help him to read a whole word!
- Read books suited to their reading ability with confidence and fluency, using a storyteller's voice
- Answer questions about stories showing good comprehension
- Have daily story time
How do we use our Reading Journals?
Pupil's reading journals are maintained and monitored by staff regularly. These are kept in each child's book bag and home reading books are changed as appropriate, according to the RWI programme and linked to your child's developmental stage of reading. We encourage reading daily at home, with a minimum of four times a week recorded in your child's journal.
What is the Phonics Screening Check?
The Phonics Screening Check is a national word reading check at the end of year 1 so that parents and other stakeholders know that children are being taught to read successfully. More information can be found here.
What is fluency?
"Fluency is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately. Their reading is smooth and has expression." Reading Rockets
Please click the link to watch these videos to hear some of our fluent readers at school.
Child A (Year 1) is reading a familiar Pink book, which she initially read about 3 months ago.
Child B (Year 1) is reading a familiar Yellow book, which was read recently.
Child D (Reception) is reading a familiar Green book, which was read at home recently.
Child E (Reception) is reading a familiar Green book, which was read at home recently.
Additional Resources
The teachers have prepared a video which shows how to best support your child at home.
Watch this video for more information on Read Write Inc.
More videos on how to support children, including how to pronounce each of the sounds, can be found here.
You can also follow Ruth Miskin on Facebook and Twitter.
Supporting documents can also be found below.
