Phonics and Reading

Reading is at the heart of everything we do at Angel Road Schools. We learn to read so that we can read to learn. 

We are really proud to have made significant improvements over the last three years through our phonics programme and have improved our Year 1 Phonics Screening Check results from: 57%, 62% to 86%.

We promote a love of reading, encouraging children to choose books from our wonderful, bespoke library and through carefully chosen class stories, which we read every day. 

From Reception, children are taught to read using their phonics (the sounds that letters make) using Read Write Inc. We do not delay phonics when children join us and this is prioritised within our curriculum. You can find more information below about what this is and how you can help at home.

At the same time as learning phonics in Reception through to Year 2, we expose children to a wide variety of texts, led by adults, picture books and other stories. Once children are able to decode and complete our phonics programme, alongside matched books going home to parents/carers, we continue to support them with comprehension. This means developing their vocabulary of words in context to ensure they build up their bank of knowledge. It is this vocabulary and the ability to decode which unlocks reading for children. We complement this with further exposure to non-fiction and fiction texts across KS1 and KS2. There are no short-cuts to reading and we ensure reading is prioritised across the curriculum. 

We expect all children to read at home 5 times a week and record this in their reading diary. Your support is crucial in helping your child learn to read.

Phonics and Read Write Inc

The Government strongly recommend the use of synthetic phonics when teaching early literacy skills to children. Synthetic phonics is simply the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word.

At Angel Road Schools we use the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their English. RWI is a method of learning based upon letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing.

 Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who can read more challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out.

The children are assessed every half term and grouped according to the phonics sounds they need to learn. They will work with a RWI trained teacher or teaching assistant.

Reading

When using RWI to read the children will:

• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts
• Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk)
• Read stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out
• Show that they comprehend the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It'

Writing

When using RWI to write the children will:

• Learn to write the letter/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds
• Learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (Fred fingers)

Talking

When using RWI the children will also work in pairs:

• To answer questions
• To take turns talking and listening to each other
• To give positive praise to each other

Blending

At Angel Road we use a puppet called Fred who can only speak in sounds, not whole words.  We call this Fred Talk. For example, Fred would say d-o-g, we would say dog.  Your child is taught to hear sounds and blend them together in sequence to make a word.  We start with blending oral sounds, then progress to reading the letters and blending them together to read the word.

Help your child learn to read words by sounding-blending (Fred talk) eg. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop. Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the Speed Sounds set.

Help your child to say the pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's' not 'suh' etc.) as quickly as they can, and then blend the sounds together to say the whole word.

Reading Books Sent Home

Children in Reception who are learning the first 44 letter sounds and are not blending fluently will bring home sound sheets, picture books and a library book for you to read with them.

Once children can blend fluently and know the first 44 sounds they will bring home Ditty sheets or their current RWI book which they are reading in class, the corresponding book bag book and a sharing book from the library.

Read Write Inc Books

Please encourage your child to read though the speed sounds page first, then the green and red words page and then check your child understands the meaning of words on the vocabulary check page, before they start reading the book. Your child will have read this book at least three times before they bring it home. They should be able to read this book with fluency and expression by the time they bring it home and they should have a good comprehension of what the book is about. At the back of the book are find it/prove it questions for you to do with your child.

Finally, don't worry if your child is struggling at first with their sounds and words, they will get there in their own time.

Supporting Phonics at Home

These booklets provide some good advice for how you can support your child's reading at home:

Phonics- Reading at Home Booklet

Phonics- Reading at Home Booklet 2

These videos are also helpful:

Reading Comprehension (Years 2-6)

At Angel Road we use, Steps to Read to support our teachers in delivering high quality Reading lessons. We teach carefully crafted units of work which empower our teachers to teach all aspects of word reading and comprehension through high-quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry vehicle texts.  

We use a clear teaching sequence to reading lessons that explicitly teach reading skills and strategies in a cumulative way. These comprehensive termly units have been constructed so that the entire statutory curriculum for reading is covered. 

Underlying Principles:

- formative assessment is used to inform teaching,

- time allocated to each lesson is 35 minutes,

- is consistent and regularly delivered,

- is integral to whole school improvement of reading,

- children are taught explicit comprehension skills e.g. prediction, questioning, clarifying, inference and summarising.

 Our Reading Lessons:

- are sequenced, coherent and progressive,

- use language-rich texts for vocabulary teaching,

- includes all elements of comprehension, taught sequentially across an academic year,

- has a clear focus on the skills and strategies needed to be a proficient and confident reader,

- uses engaging texts to promote a life-long love of reading,

- includes poetry, non-fiction and fiction that enhances learning across the curriculum.

Subject Documents:

Reading Progression Summary (Years 2-6)