Early Reading
Statement of Implementation
Through the systematic approach of Read, Write, Inc., staff teach and develop the ability to link sounds and letters in order to read and write, beginning in the Foundation Stage. During FS self-initiated learning, RWI resources are used in role-play and reading areas. Speed sound posters and sound mats are used from Foundation Stage through to Year 3, where necessary, to aid decoding and segmenting.
The daily RWI lesson consists of a speed sounds lesson - recalling phoneme-grapheme correspondences, learning a new sound and applying that new knowledge through the decoding and writing of simple words (progressing towards writing multisyllabic words at a later stage). The children read both regular and nonsense words in order to heighten their ability to spot new sounds within words. Following the speed sound lesson, the children are taught to read speedily words within simple sentences or from a book, that they will use within the lesson. They are also taught the meaning of unknown words. Time is taken to teach the strategies in order to decode words such as reading words with suffixes or multisyllabic words. We recognise that this part of the teaching sequence is especially important in order to develop fluency (rather than overt blending). Children are encouraged to read sentences aloud and to listen to and support others. Teachers follow a three-day timetable developing decoding with the early RWI books and progress onto a four-day timetable, which requires a greater writing response to the texts (spelling key words from the book and writing sentences). As the children progress through KS1, comprehension cards that match the RWI books are used to teach children the skills of retrieval and inference that they will need to become more independent and successful readers. In order to develop a knowledge and enjoyment of different genres, non-fiction as well as story books are used within RWI sessions. The children also take a corresponding book home from their RWI lesson to apply their new learning, as well as choosing a relevant phonics book from the Infant Library. As the children become more confident readers in Year 2 and move from RWI into Guided Reading groups, they enrol on the Accelerated Reader programme.
On occasion, a child may need an alternative programme to RWI if they are making little progress. In liaison with our school SENDCo, we write a programme tailored for specific needs and we have used other schemes such as Reading Revival.
Each classroom has a book area to foster a love of different genres and topics as well as to develop vocabulary. This is alongside becoming intimate with a book through our novel study approach and also hearing books read regularly by staff.
It needs to be noted that during times when remote learning is necessary, children are set the relevant RWI sounds lessons through videos provided by Ruth Miskin. Teachers have provided parents with electronic or library access to books matched to their child’s reading level. On a Year group timetable sent to parents each day, reading is the priority for home learning. Following the Spring 2020 national lockdown, from September 2020, children on the RWI programme have had an additional shorter RWI lesson each day. Children in school during both national lockdowns have continued to receive regular RWI or Guided reading teaching. RWI groups have been formed across each year group rather than across Years 1 to 3 as in previous years to ensure the safety of all involved.