Read Write Inc (Reception)

Aims

• To learn a key set of phonic skills, including grapheme recognition, phoneme pronunciation, oral segmenting and blending and decoding, that can be transferred to reading and writing in familiar and unfamiliar contexts.
• To learn set 1 and set 2 sounds of the Read Write Inc. synthetic phonics programme. Some children will go on to learn set 3 in the summer term, when ready.
• To apply phonic knowledge to read words and sentences accurately, reading back a sentence to ‘hold’ it. Children will demonstrate understanding about what they have read.
• Children can read and write some irregular common words, which cannot be segmented referred to as ‘red’ words.
• To write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

Intent 

• To set the foundations for early reading, by developing children’s phonics knowledge, enabling them to decode words and become successful, life-long readers. 

Implementation

• Transition into reception is a priority at the beginning of the autumn term, therefore as children enter reception we will complete a statutory baseline to assess each child’s phonic knowledge and awareness of sound. This will support teachers to tailor learning experiences to support needs.
• For the first few weeks of reception we will continue to teach the Letters and Sounds curriculum, practising the core skills of listening, sound discrimination, alliteration and segmenting and blending to prepare children for Read Write Inc. The class teacher will use their professional judgement to determine when to begin Read write inc, set 1.
• In the autumn term each reception class will be taught set 1 sounds of the Read Write Inc programme.
• Phonic sessions will be taught at 10.50-11.15 daily in reception.
• Phonics assessment completed at the autumn and spring terms will enable teaching staff to stream reception children from both classes. Children will be split into smaller groups to greater support individual needs. Groups are fluid and children can be moved in between groups when teaching staff feel another group may best suit the individual’s needs. Groups are reviewed again at the beginning of Spring and the Summer terms.  
• Strong staff knowledge of the Read Write Inc programme will ensure phonics is taught consistently and skills can be transferred as children work with a range of practitioners.
• Phonic opportunities are embedded into the classroom, providing children with opportunity to practise and master core phonic skills, applying to both reading and writing. Activities as enhancements keep exciting, in addition to continuous provision resources which are always available to explore. The open ended nature of the resources, promote an environment that enables children to use their imaginations! Children have access to a phonic area, many writing spaces, a comfortable reading corner and story telling shelves.
• A vocabulary rich environment supports children’s reading and understanding of the world.
• Ongoing assessments inform our half termly tracking of pupils attainment, data collated from the reading and writing area of the early years foundation stage curriculum enables teaching staff to recognise where a pupil may need additional support. When this is the case children are provided with short in class intervention to support their phonics, individual and group needs will be targeted with fun activities.

Impact 

• The outcome of phonics teaching in the Early Years will be that children will have a secure knowledge of phonics, enabling them to confidently decode words to read, and develop a love of reading.