Reading and Phonics

We give Reading high priority at Kingmoor Nursery and infant School

We teach Early Reading and Phonics through Read Write Inc:

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

We use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) to give your child the best possible start with their literacy.

Each Year group have a Read Write Inc lead teacher, so if you have questions about RWI, contact school who can refer you to them. Please take the time to read the information as it will provide invaluable information as to how you can help and support your child in reading.

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 4-7. However, 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.

RWI was developed by Ruth Miskin and more information on this can be found at https://ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/.

How will RWI be taught?

All children are assessed regularly by our RWI lead teacher so they work with children at the same level. This allows complete participation in lessons.

Nursery

Children are submersed in opportunities to build key knowledge to support their phonological awareness. In Nursery there is a significant focus on providing children with opportunities to gain familiarity with stories, rhymes, poems and songs. This helps children develop a strong sensitivity to rhyme, rhythm and alliteration as well as develop listening skills. Children will begin to engage in 'speed sounds' lessons which focus on the teaching of the first set of 25 single-letter sounds as well as learning correct pronunciation and oral blending skills.  

Reception

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

Year One & Year Two

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 one hour.  Once children become fluent speedy readers they will move on to literacy in Year One and Active English in Year Two.

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.

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

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 practicing sentences out loud before they write 

Talking

The children

• They work in pairs so that they:
• answer every question
• practice every activity with their partner
• take turns in talking and reading to each other
• develop ambitious vocabulary

Encouraging Children to develop a love of reading:

We encourage and promote and enjoyment of reading in a range of ways. Our staff model an enjoyment of reading and read quality texts often to children. We celebrate children's reading and love of reading. We have themed weeks where we base an exciting incident/adventure around a book or selection of books.

We have attractive reading areas in every class and a provide books to read outside as well as inside. Our  Library was an exciting new addition in the summer 23 and all children can access it.  In foundation stage we have our outdoor "Book Nook" and we have our playtime book trolley for KS1.

We also support our families reading at home with our "Little Outdoor Library". It can be accessed before and after school and is a free book share where people can take books and donate books for others to share. There is often a queue!

In July 23 we delighted with the installation of our new school library. Every child visits the library at least once a week.