St.Joseph's Catholic
Primary School
"Love one another as I have loved you."
Phonics
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At St Joseph's, all staff are highly trained in delivering the Read, Write, Inc Phonic programme.
Information for parents, many informative videos relating to the programme, can be found by accessing the following link: http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/
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The programme has a strong focus on teaching children to decode words accurately and develop fluency to aid reading at a faster speed and an emphasis on comprehension to aid the understanding of the text that childen are reading. Children are taught daily, in small groups, from Foundation Stage 2 upwards. The small groups children are to ensure that all children are taught at their appropriate level, which results in good progress being made.
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Phonics from the Beginning of Reception
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Phonics is taught from the very beginning of Foundation Stage 2. We believe that a strong start in Reception has a big impact on children’s progress and confidence in reading. By the end of the Foundation Stage, we want children to be able to read all of the Set 1 and Set 2 sounds in words. Children are identified from an the beginning if they are falling behind.
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The RWI programme consists of the the following:
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Teach new knowledge – Children are taught a new sound following the same sequence daily. This part is known as the 'speed sound session.
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Review/ Revisit- Previously taught sounds and words are continuously reviewed and revisited in every RWI Phonics lesson. This allows the children to feel confident as a reader and build speed when reading.
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Practice Thoroughly- Children have the opportunity to practise reading the sound in words, including multi-syllabic words. This part of the phonics lesson is known as 'word time'.
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Apply- Children apply reading their new sounds in alien words and in closely matched, phonically decodable books.
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Assess- Children are regularly assessed (at least once every half term) by one member of staff across all year groups and this is quality assured by the Reading Leader. Teachers also assess throughout the lesson to check that children understand. ‘Spotlight children’ (children who are not making as much progress as the rest) are sat in the focus of the teacher, to ensure they don’t get left behind.
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Although our intention is for children to ‘keep up’, not ‘catch up’, if the Reading Leader identifies that any children are falling behind, plans are immediately put in place to support catch up. If needed, children are also assessed in KS2. Children in Foundation Stage to Y2 have RWI Phonics lessons, and if needed, Y3 to Y6 who are working below ARE are using the Fresh Start tutoring and time for extra 1:1 reading.
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Please click on the grid below to see how we want children to progress through the RWI programme and what we expect them to know by the end of Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2.
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Pupils Falling Behind Catch Up Quickly.
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The Reading Leader quickly identifies children who are falling behind and discusses them with the Head Teacher and class teacher. Children are assessed every half term, but they can be assessed sooner than this, if the Reading Leader and Reading Teacher thinks this is necessary. The Reading Leader puts together a support plan for these children and shares these with the teachers and teaching assistants.
These support plans include five layers of provision to be put in place for children:
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The daily phonics lesson is taught robustly.
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The child has 1:1 daily phonics tutoring every afternoon. This is delivered by a trained phonics tutor.
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Virtual classroom links (extra phonics lessons) are sent home through Class Dojo to parents for extra practice.
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Teachers have an extra 5 minute phonics lesson in an afternoon.
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Children in Y1 and 2 are invited to a phonics booster club after school.
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Phonically Decodable Books
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From Foundation Stage 2, reading for pleasure books are sent home with children. Their focus is language acquisition and listening to stories being read to them. As children begin Read, Write, Inc, children are sent home with sound cards to practise their sounds. When they are secure with their understanding of sounds, children will be given virtual links for games to practise their oral blending. Following this, children will be sent home with sound blending books.
When children move into the Ditty group, they will take a perfectly matched phonically decodable book home with them. This continues, until children have moved securely off the programme. As well as a phonically, decodable book, children will take a library book home with them. This is to encourage parents to read to their children and develop their vocabulary. Books are changed weekly, so children have time to practise their phonics sounds, as well as building their fluency. If children struggle with their fluency, there are extra fluency links that can be sent home to support children, as well as classroom interventions.
Staff are Early Reading Experts
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All staff at St Joseph's, from Foundation to KS2, have been trained in RWI phonics. The Reading Leader is aware of any updates and shares the latest information from the scheme with the relevant reading teacher. All staff have access to the virtual classroom, where they have a large range of training videos for each aspect of phonics. The Reading Leader directs staff to training videos by creating the relevant pathways and staff can refer to these videos at all times to check they are delivering high quality sessions. In addition to this, the Reading Leader holds training sessions regularly for reading staff. Here at St Joseph's we partake in a RWI Development Days, where a RWI expert visits the lessons and offers bespoke training and coaching as well as meeting virtually each half term to discuss the progress of all children.
