Phonics and Reading at Hollinhey

Phonics

We teach a structured,  synthetic phonics programme called Read, Write, Inc. Children are taught in ability groups dependent on their needs. These groups are led by teachers and classroom assistants. Phonics is taught daily at a dedicated time for both Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, following 'Read Write Inc' scheme. Lessons consist of activities which teaches the children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.

Set 1 

To begin with we learn a sound a day. We use pure sounds so that your son/daughter will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily. Letter-sound pictures are used to help your son/daughter learn these sounds quickly. e.g. mmaisie mmmountain is morphed into m  and   t-t-t-tower is morphed into t

Set 1 sounds are taught in the following order: m a s d t, i n p g o, c k u b, f e l h sh, r j v y w, th z ch qu x ng nk

Sets 2 

Once your son/daughter knows all Set 1 sounds by sight and sound and uses them to blend to read words, we start teaching Set 2.

ay: may I play ee: what can you see igh: fly high ow: blow the snow oo: poo at the zoo oo: look at a book ar: start the car or: shut the door air: that’s not fair ir: whirl and twirl ou: shout it out oy: toy for a boy

Set 3

Set 3 long vowel sounds. Your son/daughter will need to learn that most vowel sounds have more than one spelling.

ea: cup of tea oi: spoil the boy a-e: make a cake i-e: nice smile o-e: phone home u-e: huge brute aw: yawn at dawn are: share and care ur: purse for a nurse er: a better letter ow: brown cow ai: snail in the rain oa: goat in a boat ew: chew the stew ire: fire fire! ear: hear with your ear ure: sure it’s pure? tion: (celebration)                      tious / cious: (scrumptious / delicious)

Assessment of Phonics

Children are assessed each half term and the groups are reorganised according to progress made; some children may need to revisit some sounds and this would be one of the things taken into account in the reorganisation.

 Reading at Hollinhey

Learning to read
Teaching our children to read and write independently will provide them with the key skills they need to access the rest of the curriculum as well as impact massively on their self-esteem and future life chances.
Being able to decode a text alone though is not enough. Children need to understand what they are reading and need to be taught key comprehension skills from an early age. This is done through comprehension activities linked to the books they are reading. We know that good readers question, check and engage with their own understanding and these are some of the skills we seek to develop. Decoding and comprehension need to be taught at the same time.
Our curriculum has a strong emphasis on learning and acquiring new vocabulary. Children need to know what words mean in order to understand what they have read. Texts are chosen carefully with this in mind so that children are exposed to a rich and wide vocabulary.

Early reading                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Our reading scheme is carefully matched to the RWI phonics programme. The RWI books they receive will only contain sounds the children have learnt and are familiar with. We also use a range of other reading scheme books to expose the children to different types of genres and stories.  

Reading for pleasure                                                                                                                                                                                                   

We feel it is important to provide opportunities for children to enjoy a book and read for pleasure so this is timetabled in to the school week. In addition, over the year we promote a love for reading through: Classroom Favourite 5, Mystery Readers, Story-Time sessions, running a school Book Fayre, Book Club, Buddie Reading, The Outdoor Library and World Book day celebrations. We also invite authors in to school to show children just how exciting reading and writing can be.  Such visits inspire and support the children in the writing process as well as encouraging them to read more. 

Reading at home
Most importantly of all, in all year groups, we encourage children to be reading at home every night. Sharing a book together with your child gives you the opportunity to escape into another world with your child and can be bonding and relaxing. Reading for pleasure will help develop your child’s vocabulary, communication, empathy, imagination and concentration. Whether this is sharing books by reading together or beginning to read more independently, we advise that all children read every day.  

Reading for just 20 minutes a day = 1.8 million words a year!  

Reading records
Every child is provided with a reading record/diary to record what they have been reading. It also provides an opportunity for parents/carers to comment on their child’s reading.