At Hemyock, we teach phonics using Read Write Inc. This was first implemented in September 2022 from Reception through to Year 2, whilst also supporting some children in Lower Key Stage 2.

Why Read Write Inc?

Teaching children to read is one of the most amazing gifts we give – it is however, a complex process. Read-Write Inc aims to make it as simple as possible by using consistent routines and lessons structures; the daily phonics and reading sessions are deliberately designed to allow all children to both be successful and feel that success themselves.  

Reading books

In Read-Write Inc, we teach the children to read the books first in school and then we send them home. The aim is to ensure that the children practice perfect with you at home; by the time they read with you, they have read the book a number of times and should be more confident. Reading their storybook is a daily part of the classroom routine, during which staff circulate and listen to all children. Once the children have read the book in class for 3 times, they will bring home a black and white version of the storybook which they will read with you for 3-5 days (it varies between groups). The whole group will have their storybook changed at the same time. You can find out more about how and why we do this in the document below,  ‘Listening to your child read at home’.

In addition to storybooks, where appropriate, we will also send home ‘book bag books’ and non-fiction books which further develop children’s confidence with words and sounds they already know. These may be used in school but are mainly for you to enjoy with your child at home. Such books will be an opportunity for further practice and will be based on sounds the children should be confident with. As with storybooks, please read these with your child several times to focus on fluency and then send them back into school; we will always change these on a Friday.

You can also help by regularly reading to your child at home. You may find the document below helpful.

Tracking progress and supporting struggling readers.

One of the big advantages of the validated programmes, including Read-write Inc is the systematic approach to assessment and intervention. Each half term, we assess the children against a set list of criteria to determine how well they are doing and we then group the children according to where they are. This means many children will not be taught by their class teacher. The children then receive a diet which is matched to their needs. These assessments are tracked over time to ensure that the children are progressing as we would expect. These assessments are carried out on a 1:1 basis and are done in a positive and celebratory way; the children won’t realise they are being assessed. Where we encounter concerns, we use a combination of tutoring and additional support, together with help and advice from our Read-Write Inc trainer to address them.

Reading records

Our traditional reading record approach now needs tweaking in light of the above. All children are heard read within their group on a daily basis and struggling readers will be targeted for extra reading support. The nature of the programme is that all children practise in their group in such a way that they are always successful and as such there is limited feedback that can be offered. We want to focus our attention on those readers who are not yet where they need to be and as such we are looking to introduce a new approach. For these children, class teachers will be listening to children read in addition to the Read Write Inc session and these will be recorded in the reading record.

For all children, we will stick a star chart in the back of the reading record; when your child reads to you, colour in a star. We will then award certificates for 50, 100 and 200 stars to the children in our celebration assembly when they reach these milestones. In addition, still please use the reading record to communicate to the class teacher anything you notice when your child reads; each record will be checked once a week on a Friday. They will stamp the book to show they have checked.

RWI sound progression

The children will start by using the simple speed sound chart during their phonics lessons when they are learning Set 1 and 2 sounds.

They will then progress onto using the complex speed sounds chart when they are learning Set 3 sounds.

Set 1 sounds

RWI uses short phrases to help the children remember the formation of all of the single letters.

Set 2 & 3 sounds

With set 2 & 3, there is a rhyming phrase to help them remember. E.g. “ay – may I play?”, “ow – blow the snow”.

Red words

Red words are words that are not phonetically decodable. The children learn these by identifying the 'tricky' part (the part that sounds different to how it is spelt).

RWI progression and expectations

The tables below show how the children should progress through the RWI programme.

Reception

Year 1

Year 2