Phonics and Spelling

Intent:  At Newton Primary School, we follow the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme.  We ensure that we follow this using a consistent and structured approach to support a smooth transition as children gain skills and progress through the stages. 

Implementation:  Children in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 have a daily phonics session, following Read Write Inc. Phonics. This is aligned to the National Curriculum and the children progress through three 'sets' of graphemes. First, they learn one way to read the 44 common sounds and blend these sounds into words, then learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes. They will also learn ‘red words’ (or ‘tricky words’) which cannot be sounded out as they break the phonetic rules of the English language. To support children across the school in applying their phonics when writing, every classroom from Year 1 to 6 displays the RWI Complex Sounds Chart. In EYFS, the simple sounds and images from the RWI scheme are displayed.

Once children are secure in the grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) for each set of sounds and they are able to segment and blend, they are ready to move onto to our spellings scheme. We follow the 'Spelling Shed' programme, which is a highly engaging digital platform. Each week, the children are set a new assignment, which is a list of ten words. They are encouraged to practise these on Spelling Shed, using the online games. In school, these words are taught in 15-20 minute sessions where we delve further into the 'patterns' and how the words are structured. 

Impact:  In phonics, the progress of our children is monitored closely, through assessment within their lessons, weekly mini-tests and through regular set assessments. This ensures that all children can be moved on as soon as they are ready and it also allows teachers to offer extra support where necessary.  In order to allow the children to consolidate and apply their learning of phonics, they each take home a RWI decodable reading book which is aligned with the phonics stage at which they are working. In addition to this, they have an individual RWI eBook log-in. Each week, the children are assigned a book and quiz to complete at home. This is the same book that they will have read three times during the week with their phonics teacher and should be able to read this with some fluency and understanding. 

For those children who are working on spellings, they are tested each week. This test is completed in their Reading Diaries, which enables parents to give further support where necessary. 

Guidance on listening to your child read

• Do not read the book aloud before your child reads it to you.
• Ask your child to read the sounds and red words at the start of the book before they read the story. (The Sound Blending books do not contain these.)
• When your child reads the story, ask them to sound out any words that they can’t read easily. Don’t allow your child to struggle too much and praise your child when they succeed.
• Read back each sentence or page to keep the plot moving. (Your child’s energy is going into reading the words, not following the story.)
• Do not ask your child to guess a word by using the pictures.
• Do it all with patience and encouragement!