A guide to EYFS & KS1 Phonics at Gawsworth. By J Smith & H Jepson

Read Write Inc. Ethos We all know that reading opens the door to all learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read challenging material. A child who reads challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns the more a child wants to find out. It is, therefore, vital that your child finds learning to read and write a rewarding and successful experience.

Who is Read Write Inc. for? The Read Write Inc. programme is for primary school children learning to read. It enables every child to become a confident and fluent reader at the first attempt. Every child who completes Read Write Inc. learns to read fluently and confidently. Using our method: Children in the early years learn to read confidently and fluently. Older children with reading difficulties make fast progress. Children with specific learning difficulties learn to read. The Read Write Inc. programme is also used with great success to support children of all ages who have been designated as dyslexic.

Why does it work? The systematic and lively programme is organised by an in-school manager The children read and write for several sessions over the course of the week, grouped according to their reading level. (Assessed) Children do not struggle because the work is too difficult or get bored because the work is too easy.

Right….now it’s your turn… How many sounds and corresponding letters do you think your children need to know, in order for them to become confident & competent readers? 44

But wait…. It’s not that easy!!!!!!! After they learn the 44 ‘simple’ sounds, they also need to know the more complex English alphabetic code.

It’s your turn again!!!! There is more than one way of writing each of the 44 simple sounds. How many do you think there are in total? 100… and these are just the Ones which are most commonly used!!!

Why is Read Write Inc. so much fun? Meet Freddie Phonic. MTYT approach. Learn something new, review, review, review. Becoming independent learners – looking for mistake monsters. Praise phrases. Encouraging children to play & extend vocabulary in context.

Here’s how it works. With Read Write Inc. books gone are the confusing words that can undermine children's initial confidence & enthusiasm for reading e.g. ‘come’, ‘wanted’ early on, particularly in the Oxford Reading Tree schemes. We have re-grouped our previous reading scheme books to match as closely as possible- to ensure that children only encounter words that they have the phonic skills to decode. Tricky (Red) words are introduced systematically and reinforced during phonics sessions. Green words are decodable words, which the children can orally blend & segment using their phonetic skills.

Decoding means translating written words into the sounds and meanings of spoken words. Children often find this easier and therefore apply this at a faster pace than… Encoding, or spelling, which is the reverse process. The skills used in encoding are usually developed alongside decoding skills and reflect similar learning. In order to become good decoders and spellers, learners need to first develop some basic understandings about print and how it relates to spoken English. In particular, learners must have developed phonological awareness. Recent trends have meant that phonics, writing and reading have been taught as separate entities. RWI recognises and addresses that the 3 need to be taught as a whole in order to embed encoding at a similar rate to decoding.

‘Get Writing!’ As part of RWI each book has a set of ‘Get Writing!’ activities; where oral sentence building & vocabulary development are brought together with encoding & handwriting in step by step writing activities. Yellow, Blue & Grey books develop the children’s writing further as they have two big composition tasks. These tasks are often based around the children producing a piece of writing inspired by what a character is feeling, saying, thinking, doing etc. Children are encouraged to check their own work & ‘up level’ their thinking in order to improve their writing.

Top tips for writing at home…. Think it. Say it & ‘up level’ it using power words. Write it. Check it for spelling & to ensure it makes sense.

Literacy was highlighted by our recent Ofsted as being a strength. Here at Gawsworth, we are constantly striving to take our children's learning to the next level. Please support us in embracing this exciting, new approach.