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Early Reading and Phonics

Here at Christ Church we follow the 'Read, Write, Inc. Phonics' programme (RWI) to teach children to read and spell. This programme is for children in F1 to Year 2 who are learning to read and write. Any pupils in Year 3 and 4 who need to catch up may also access RWI to help them make rapid progress in reading.

Early Reading and Phonics at Our School

At our school, we believe that learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn at primary school. Everything else in the curriculum relies on this essential skill. We want every child to love reading and to become confident, fluent readers as quickly as possible.

To achieve this, we use Read Write Inc. (RWI), a high-quality, rigorous phonics program designed by Ruth Miskin.

What is Read Write Inc?

Read Write Inc. is a complete literacy program which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling.

The program is structured through:

  • Decoding: Learning the English alphabetic code: the 150+ graphemes that represent 44 speech sounds.

  • Blending: Learning to join those sounds together to read words.

  • Fluency: Reading "ditty" books and storybooks that are closely matched to the sounds they know, ensuring early success and building confidence.

  • Comprehension: Discussing what they have read to develop a deep understanding of texts.

How we teach it

Children are assessed regularly by our reading lead and placed into small groups with children of a similar reading level. This allows us to provide targeted support and ensures that the challenge is "just right" for every child.

In a typical RWI lesson, children will:

  1. Learn a new sound and practice its "mnemonic" (a catchy phrase to help them remember the shape of the letter).

  2. Practice "Fred Talk"—our special frog friend, Fred, can only speak in sounds (e.g., f-r-o-g). Children help Fred by blending the sounds into words.

  3. Read words containing the sounds they have been taught.

  4. Spell words by "pinching" the sounds onto their fingers.

Supporting at Home

You are your child's most influential teacher. To help them on their reading journey:

  • Listen to them read: Your child will bring home books that are matched to their phonics stage. Encourage them to use "Fred Talk" for words they find tricky.

  • Read to them: Share bedtime stories and a wide variety of picture books. This builds their vocabulary and fosters a love for storytelling.

  • Use the sounds: When helping your child spell or read, try to use the "pure" sounds (e.g., 'm' as in mmmm rather than 'muh').

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