Phonics at Walverden Primary School
At Walverden Primary School we follow the Read Write Inc phonics resource published by the Ruth Miskin in conjunction with Oxford University Press. It aims to build children's speaking and listening skills in their own right as well as to prepare children for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and skills. It sets out a detailed and systematic programme for teaching phonic skills for children starting by the age of five, with the aim of them becoming fluent readers by age seven.
Phonics at Walverden is fun and child centred; we use the Read Write Inc letter stories to support learning the sounds with actions and rhymes. However the fundamental skills are those found in Read Write Inc.
The sounds are taught in a specific order (not alphabetically). This enables children to begin building words as early as possible. The children are placed in carefully selected groups to suit their learning. These sets are carefully differentiated to meet the specific needs of the children, whilst also ensuring fluidity in moving those children who are making rapid progress.
The skills taught in phonics at Walverden:
1. Learning the letter sounds - Children learn the 42 main letter sounds. This includes alphabet sounds as well as digraphs such as sh, th, ai and ue.
2. Learning letter formation - Using different multi-sensory methods, children are taught how to form and write the letters.
3. Blending (Green words) - Children learn how to blend the sounds together to read and write new words.
4. Identifying the sounds in words (Segmenting) - Listening for the sounds in words gives children the best start for learning spelling.
5. Red words - Red words have irregular spellings and children learn these separately within the phonics sessions.
Alongside the high quality teaching of phonics we use the Read Write Inc books to support the progression of phonics with home and school reading.
We also use the Read Write Inc reading books for guided reading in EYFS and KS1 and catch up in KS2.
Suggested Websites
BBC – there are a number of resources available through the BBC website, for example:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/
Family Learning:
http://www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html
Phonics Play – although this is a subscription website there are some games available for free. http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ ICT games http://www.ictgames.com/literacy.html
http://www.letters-and-sounds.comLetters and Sounds – we use this website in school for resources and games.
There are useful online games accessible via this website for example
Please see our phonics learning page for a more detailed overview of how we teach phonics day to day.
Read Write Inc Parents Guide.
As a school we follow Read Write Inc phonics scheme. The following link has a very comprehensive guide to RWI with lots of helpful videos and worksheets. We hope you find the resources helpful and supportive.
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/