At Moorcroft Wood Primary, we strive to teach children to read effectively and quickly using the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme (RWI) which includes teaching synthetic phonics, sight vocabulary, decoding and encoding words as well as spelling and accurate letter formation.

We passionately believe that teaching children to read and write independently, as quickly as possible, is one of the core purposes of a primary school. These fundamental skills not only hold the keys to the rest of the curriculum but also have a huge impact on children’s self-esteem and future life chances.

‘’Reading is the one ability that, once set in motion, has the capacity to feed itself, to grow exponentially producing a base from which the possibilities are infinite.’’

                                                                                                                   Michael Morpurgo

What are our aims?

• Teach daily lessons for Nursery to Year 2 children.
• Teach the children to recognise and write all 31 set 1 sounds, 5 additional special friends, 12 set 2 sounds, 20 set 3 sounds and 15 additional sounds.
• Support the children in becoming fluent readers who are able to read for meaning.
• Teach new vocabulary as a priority and built upon and recap words regularly.
• Build upon prior knowledge for children to become successful learners.

In Nursery the children will start the RWI programme which continues until Year 2 when the children move onto English and reading lessons. 

 When using Read Write to read the children will:

• learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts.
• learn to read words using Fred Talk.
• read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out.
• show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions.

When using Read Write to write the children will:

• learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent 44 sounds.
• learn to write words by saying the sounds in Fred Talk.
• write simple sentences.
• compose stories based on picture strips.
• compose a range of stories based on writing frames.

Children are organised into homogenous groupings for phonics so that they are taught according to their reading ability rather than their age. Teachers and teaching assistants lead phonic groups so that they are small and pupils are well supported.

In Key Stage 2 teachers build upon synthetic phonics knowledge and will refer the child back to the sound card phrases to help with the spelling of unknown words.  Any child who is identified as needing alternative reading strategies to phonics will have one to one tutoring or small group tutoring. 

Phonic Screening check

In Year 1, a Phonic Screening Check will take place in the Summer Term.  This will check the child’s ability to use their phonic knowledge to read a list of 40 words which will consist of real and nonsense words (alien words).

Here are some videos on how to pronounce the RWI sounds:

Information for Parents:

Use this link to find out more about the RWI program:

www.ruthmiskin.com

Oxford Owl is a free website built to help you help your child learn to read and love to read.  It contains

• Over 100 FREE ebooks to enjoy with your child
• Phonics guide (including how to say the sounds correctly)
• Ideas for motivating boys to read
• Great ways to keep up with reading in the holidays
• Reading games and activities.

www.oxfordowl.co.uk

Here are some useful websites and games to support your child's phonics:

If you want further information about the curriculum content your child is covering please call the school office to arrange an appointment to see the subject leader.