At Streatham Wells we know that reading is the key to opening all doors. Our ambition is that all children are fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1. Fluent readers can decode new words, blend, and segment. Once these skills are mastered, children are able to access the rest of the curriculum and can begin to read for pleasure: this is our ultimate goal for all of our children.

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We follow the Read Write Inc programme to teach phonics and reading. Read Write Inc starts in Nursery where children learn the Set 1 Speed Sounds. The Read Write Inc learning journey then continues into Reception and Key Stage 1. Children are assessed at the end of each half term, are grouped accordingly and progress through the programme providing suitable challenges for their assessed phonics level.

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Foundations for phonics in Nursery

We provide both child-led and adult-led experiences for all children. These include the sharing of high quality, language-rich stories, rhymes, poems and songs, as well as activities to encourage the development of focused listening and attention. We also work on oral blending and begin to familiarise the children with letters and sounds, using the Read Write Inc resources.  This ensures that our Nursery pupils are well-prepared to begin learning grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and blending in Reception.

Daily phonics lessons in Reception and Year 1

We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers. Daily phonics teaching begins in Reception as soon as all our pupils have started.

Keep-up lessons

• Any pupil in Reception or Year One who needs additional practice receives daily Keep-up support from a trained member of staff. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.
• Any pupil in Years Two or Three who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics screening check will receive Rapid Catch-up support from a trained member of staff.
• Any pupil joining the school who is not reading at the age-related level will be assessed and any gaps in their phonics knowledge will be addressed through Rapid Catch-up support from a trained member of staff.

Teaching reading: Reading practice sessions

• Books are decodable and are matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using Read Write Inc assessments and book matching grids.
• Children have reading practice sessios, which are focused on one of the three key reading skills: decoding, prosody (reading with fluency and expression), and comprehension.
• In Reception these sessions begin with children who are already decoding. Children who are not yet decoding have blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.
• In Years Two and Three we continue to teach reading in this way for any pupils who still need to practise reading with decodable books.

Home reading

The decodable reading practice book is taken home each week along with a reading for pleasure book chosen by the child to share at home.

We run a phonics workshop for all Reception parents to introduce this, and to provide information and resources.  

Ensuring consistency and pace of progress

Every teacher in our school has been trained to teach reading, so we have the same expectations of progress and use the same language, routines and resources. In addition, we have:

• Lesson templates, Prompt cards and ‘How to’ videos ensure teachers all have a consistent approach and structure for each lesson.
• The teaching of phonics is regularly observed and monitored, and summative data is used to identify children who have gaps in learning and need additional support.

Assessment

Assessment is used to monitor progress and to identify any child needing additional support.

• We assess daily within class to identify children who may need extra support, and use the weekly Friday Review lesson to assess and address any gaps in the class.
• Every six weeks we use summative assessment to assess progress, to identify gaps in learning that need to be addressed, to identify any children needing additional support and to plan the Keep-up support that they need.
• Phonics assessments are scrutinised by the Phonics Lead and Senior Leadership to identify those pupils in need of extra support.
• Any child new to the school is assessed using the Read Write Inc Assessment to identify any gaps in their phonic knowledge and plan provide appropriate extra teaching.
• Pupils sit the Phonics screening check at the end of Year One. Any child not passing the check re-sits it in Year Two.
• Children in Years Two to Six receiving Rapid Catch-up sessions are assessed every six weeks to monitor progress.

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For more information on the Read Write Inc programme and how to support your child at home, click here.

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