Read Write Inc (RWI) at Sir John Heron 

Intent: 

Our goal at Sir John Heron Primary School is to help every child develop into an enthusiastic and self-assured reader and writer. Throughout the EYFS and Key Stage 1, teaching phonics in a systematic manner is highly valued.  We passionately think that one of the main goals of a primary school is to teach children to read and write on their own as soon as possible. These foundational abilities not only provide access to the remainder of the curriculum but also significantly influences children's prospects for success in the future and sense of self. We teach children to read with ease, fluency, and comprehension using the RWI phonics method. They acquire the habit of reading extensively and frequently for information as well as enjoyment. 

Implementation:

In the Early Years and Key Stage 1, we at Sir John Heron teach synthetic phonics using the Ruth Miskin 'Read Write Inc.' program. Every day, phonics sessions last 30 minutes. Every half term, the phonics lead uses the phonics assessments to assess children’s phonic knowledge in order to make sure children are making progress. Every week, children take book bag books home to consolidate the practice of sounds they have learnt in school. This book is closely linked to their phonics development and supports the development of reading skills. Children also take home one book to read for pleasure for their parents to share with them.

Impact:

Our goal is for children to be confident readers by the end of Key Stage 1, with the Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1 serving as a gauge of phonics proficiency. Children will be able to accurately and quickly read materials that are appropriate for their age by the end of the program. As a result, we can then focus on improving their comprehension and getting them ready to go to Key Stage 2. When children have strong decoding abilities, they will have a reliable method for understanding new words in any subject or at any point of the curriculum.

The teaching of phonics is explicit and systematic and supports children in making connections between the sound patterns they hear in words and the way that these words are written. The teaching of phonics is also matched to children’s current level of skill in terms of their phonemic awareness and their knowledge of letter sounds and patterns (graphemes).

Every RWI session follows the sequence below:

Teach – teach new phoneme-grapheme correspondences, skills of blending and segmenting.

Revisit and review - recently and previously taught phoneme-grapheme correspondences and blending and segmenting skills as appropriate.

Practice - the newly taught phoneme-grapheme correspondence. 

Apply – read or write words containing new letters/graphemes.

For further information about RWI phonics, videos and free resources can be found on the following websites:

Ruth Miskin website:

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/parents/

Oxford Owl:

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/