Read Write Inc at West Dean CE Primary School
At West Dean CE Primary School, we aim for all our children to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about reading. We encourage children to develop a love of books by reading to them daily, at home and at school and give children access to a wide range of books at school.
Phonics
The children learn to ‘read’ the sounds in words by teaching phonics daily from Reception using Read Write Inc (RWI). We teach the children ways of remembering these sounds and letters using flashcards and simple phrases. The children then use their taught sounds to write. They also learn to read and write tricky words which they cannot spell phonetically. Each child is given a phonics pack to use at home and in school containing the current sounds and tricky words that they are learning. This 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, but we continue teaching RWI to some children beyond the age of 7, as we use a stage not age approach.
(This is a useful video to help understand phonics.)
Reading
The children:
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Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple flashcards with a picture prompt on one side
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Learn to read words by blending the taught sounds
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Learn to read the tricky words
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Read from a range of storybooks and non-fiction books matched to their phonic knowledge
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Develop comprehension skills by answering the questions at the back of the book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q
Writing
The children:
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Learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases
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Learn to write tricky words
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Learn to build sentences by practising sentences out loud before they write
Nonsense words (Alien words)
As well as learning to read and blend real words, children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading ‘Nonsense words’. These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term. These words provide endless opportunities for children to apply and practise their thinking in a range of different contexts.