At Broomwood Primary, we want all children to leave at the end of Year 6 with a love for reading. We want them to be able to read age appropriate texts speedily and have the strategies to be able to decode unknown words where necessary. We understand that reading journeys can look different for each child. We aim to meet everyone's individual needs, targeting gaps of knowledge, so that children can reach their potential and enjoy their reading journey. We start this journey by teaching Read Write Inc. from Reception. 

Intent

To teach high-quality Read Write Inc phonics speed sound lessons and Story Book lessons so that all children move through the programme quickly and become confident, fluent readers.

Implementation

The Read Write Inc. scheme is used to teach phonics and the reading of Phonics Story Books across K.S.1. and Reception.                                                               

Children are grouped according to their ability in Early Years, Key Stage 1 and those in Year 3 that still require phonics teaching. The teaching of phonics and Story Books is taught daily. Using the 5 underlying principles set out by R.W.I.

The five Ps:

1. PACE – no time is wasted during teaching sessions. Children are active and involved. The aim is for the children to complete the programme as quickly as possible.
2. PRAISE – teachers praise the children constantly throughout the teaching sessions. Children learn more quickly when they are praised for what they do well, rather than nagged for what they do wrong.
3. PURPOSE – each activity has a very clear purpose. The teacher will set this purpose at the beginning of the lesson so that the children know exactly what they will be learning.
4. PARTICIPATION – all children take part in all parts of the lesson. Full participation is gained through partner work and choral response.
5. PASSION – staff we are passionate about our teaching and the benefits of the Read, Write Inc. programme.

All teachers are trained in the underlying principles and they are the heart of each RWI lesson.

The daily lessons are up to 45 minutes long. At the beginning of each lesson, there is a speed sound lesson and these are taught using the R.W.I. speed sound lesson plans. The children are then taught to read story books using the R.W.I. story book lesson plans. Children are taught how to apply the sounds they’ve learnt to read books with different sounds focus’. Before children can read words speedily, they are encouraged to apply the strategies:

• Find special friends.
• Fred Talk
• Read the word

All texts that children are expected to read are linked to the child's phonic ability. Therefore, children are able apply the strategies to decode and read words if they are unable to read them speedily. Each week, children enjoy a focus text and complete story book activities to support accuracy, reading fluency and to facilitate comprehension.

Teachers follow a strict timetable of activities when teaching the Story Book lessons. When complete, the children then take the story books home to build confidence and a love for reading. In addition to the story books, children also take home a fully decodable reading book (Book Bag Book) to further practice skills learnt at school. These books are matched to each child's phonics ability and are closely monitored by the reading teachers to ensure that children are reading books of an appropriate level.

Impact

All children accessing the RWI scheme will complete a RWI assessment every half term. These assessments are recorded electronically, and they are used to group children into the ability groups. If needed, some children will complete an early assessment to see if they are ready for a new group at another point in the term. The assessments are used to create class sound grids which tell us which sounds each individual knows and their gaps of knowledge. Teachers use sounds grids to teach gaps of knowledge so that learning is more targeted to the children’s needs. Where possible, staff members also target gaps of knowledge through ‘Pinny Time’ activities throughout the day.

Intervention

Children working below the expected standard for their year group, as set out by RWI, will take part in additional small group or 1:1 sessions. These sessions are highly targeted for each individual.

Classroom environment

The sets of RWI sounds, images and sound charts are used throughout the school and should be available in classrooms. They can be in lightbulb books or on hanging displays. This is checked during environment walks. Classrooms also have access to the appropriate Speed Sound charts for their year group.

Reading