Here at St Monica's Catholic Primary School, we aim for all our children to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about reading. Children who read regularly or are read to regularly have the opportunity to open the doors to so many different worlds! Reading will give your child the tools to become independent life-long learners. We can achieve this together through:

• Read Write Inc, a programme to help your child read
• Encouraging children to develop a love of books by reading to them daily; at home and at school
• Giving children access to a wide range of books at school and at home

We use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) in Reception and Year 1 to give your child the best possible start with their literacy. We have put together a guide to how the RWI programme works together with some useful links. Our Assistant Headteacher, Mrs Evans, is our RWI lead teacher, so if you have questions about RWI, contact school who can refer you to her. Please take the time to read this invaluable information as it will help you to support your child with their reading.

What is Read Write Inc?

Read Write Inc (RWI) is a phonics programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling.  It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write. The children are assessed by the RWI lead teacher and grouped according to their ability. Small group phonics lessons are taught daily by trained staff and there are consistent expectations across the range of abilities. At the end of each half term the children are assessed to check on their progress and regrouped.

Children learn sounds in school which help them to read and write. They then practise these skills through reading 'Book Bag Books' at home which are specifically pitched to both consolidate learning and provide challenge in an engaging and fun way! This is what they look like:

Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions

Purpose – know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about

Participation – ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning

Praise – ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability

Pace – teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning

Passion – be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally

Reception

In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. Those who are ready, will begin to read simple words within books and write some of these.

Year 1 and above

Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily sessions of RWI phonics last for one hour.

The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets. 

 Set 1 Sounds are taught in the following order together with rhymes to help children form the letters correctly and instantly recognise sounds ready for blending.

Watch the video below to find out how to pronounce the ‘pure’ sounds:

The children are then taught  Set 2 Sounds – the long vowels.

Set 2 Sounds:

• ay: may I play  
• ee: what can you see 
• igh: fly high  
• ow: blow the snow  
• oo: poo at the zoo  
• oo: look at the 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 Sounds

When they are very confident with all Set 1 and 2, they are taught  Set 3 Sounds.

Set 3 Sounds

• 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)
• e: he me we she be 

Year 1 Phonics Meeting 

In year 1 the children will all sit the national Phonics Screening check. Here is all the inforation from the meeting we held with with parents to discuss this.