At Bothal Primary School we use a synthetic phonics programme to teach reading called 'Read Write Inc' produced by Ruth Miskin. 

As children progress and can decode fluently they move onto modules which develop children’s comprehension, vocabulary, writing, critical thinking and discussion skills and grammar – in a fun and meaningful way.

Read Write Inc Phonics is a method of teaching reading which is centred around learning the sounds of the letters (phonemes), and then blending them together to read words.  The children also learn to break down words into individual sounds in order to write them.

How it works

The children are assessed and grouped according to their ability by the Reading Leader. They work in small groups with a reading teacher. Every six weeks, the children will be assessed again to check they have made progress and will be grouped again.  1:1 support is put in place to tutor children who may need extra help. In addition to the Read Write Inc programme, the children will also be working on early literacy skills, writing skills and storytelling in their classes with their own class teacher.

Reading

Using Read Write Inc, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all of their energy into understanding what they read.

When using 'Read Write Inc' to read the children will:

• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts
• Learn to read words by blending the sounds together
• Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out
• Show that they understand the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove it' discussion questions.

Writing

Read Write Inc allows the children to spell effortlessly so that they can put their energy into working out what they want to write. 

When using 'Read Write Inc' to write the children will:

• Learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds (graphemes)
• Learn to write words by sounding them out and then writing the corresponding graphemes
• Learn to write simple and then increasingly complex sentences
• Compose a range of texts using discussion prompts
• Compose stories based on picture strips. 

Talking

When using 'Read Write Inc' the children work in pairs to:

• Answer questions to practise every activity
• Take turns talking to each other
• Give positive praise to each other.

Blending

Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the Speed Sound sets. 

Help your child learn to read words by sound-blending e.g. c-a-t = cat.

Help children to say the pure sounds, as quickly as they can, and then to blend the sounds together to say the whole word.

What else can I do to help my child to read?

Read a variety of books (fiction, non-fiction, rhymes etc). 

Discuss the different features of various books. 

Talk about the books and other reading materials that you have shared.

Explain the meaning of new words. 

Most importantly though, show the fun that can be gained by listening to stories and reading a range of texts.E.g. reading and then following a recipe together.

Don't forget you don't have to read just books - cereal packets, shopping lists, road signs, web pages, magazines, newspapers etc are useful ways to practise reading.

Reading Books

Little Learners and Nursery

Reading to your child and instilling a love and enjoyment of books is really important. To help with this, your child will bring home a story book. Please read this book to your child each day and return their Reading Wallet into school daily in order for us to share these stories in school. Should you wish to change your child's reading book, please place it in the red box in their classroom for their class teachers to change.

Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and selected pupils

If your child is part of our RWI programme, they will receive a ‘My Book Bag’ book which is phonologically matched to the phonics scheme read in school. They will take this book home each Friday to read at home to you, and it will be changed the following Friday. Your child should be able to read this story without it being too challenging as it is pitched at the correct level. Children are assessed every 6 weeks by our Reading Leaders to ensure children are reading at the correct stage. Please listen to your child read this book daily or as a minimum, 3 times per week and note in the Pupil Planner. Our children are very proud of their successes in reading and are looking forward to reading to you.

Additionally, your child will also bring home a library book. Please read this book to your child each day and note in the Pupil Planner. We ask that children bring their book into school each day to enable our Reading Team to hear them read. 

Accelerated Reader

Pupils working beyond the RWI scheme will bring home a home reader to read at least three times per week. This should be a combination of them reading to you and you reading to them. We ask that pupils bring their book into school each day to enable our Reading Team to hear them read. Prior to changing their book, your child will complete a quick quiz to check their level of understanding. This will help us to check that their reading books continue to be at the right level. Staff will guide pupils to select an appropriate book within a band as their home reader; however, your child will have lots of opportunities to explore and select additional books should they wish.