Intent

In line with the government statutory guidance on the teaching of phonics, Ashford Hill Primary School follows the Read Write Inc. (RWI) phonics scheme, a government validated systematic synthetic phonics scheme. Read Write Inc. Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.

Following the scheme, in the teaching of phonics we intend:

• To ensure that all children at Ashford Hill Primary are taught phonics through the systematic teaching of pure sounds, achieving age related expectation.
• For all children to be able to confidently apply their phonic knowledge to decode and segment words.
• To establish and maintain consistent teaching, modelling and progression throughout the teaching of phonics.
• To accurately differentiate teaching through the use of high quality assessment, to allow children to be taught in line with their current phonic progress, and allow for accelerated progress.
• To provide frequent access to high quality decodable texts, in line with the children’s current phonic progress.
• To, using assessment, promptly identify specific areas of need and close gaps in learning using individualised interventions.
• For children to be able to apply their phonic knowledge in spelling and independent writing.

 

Implementation

Our intentions in the teaching of phonics will be achieved through:

• The teaching of phonics daily across EYFS and KS1, and the teaching of phonics daily to children in KS2 identified as having gaps in their phonic knowledge.
• The systematic teaching of the 25 single letters sounds and 49 digraphs and trigraphs.
• High quality teaching of phonics, with frequent professional development opportunities for phonics teaching staff.
• The teaching of Fresh Start phonics to children requiring phonics tuition in Years 5 and 6.
• High quality teaching and modelling of pure sounds, and modelling of segmenting and decoding words using previously learnt phonic knowledge.
• Daily application of phonic knowledge in the writing of phonetically decodable words.
• The provision of high-quality texts at the current decoding level of all children, to allow for practise and phonic application.
• The provision of high quality texts at the current decoding level for children to take home.
• Frequent revisiting of sounds previously taught to support and maintain progress.
• Frequent assessment of the children’s progress and phonic retention, to identify gaps which will be closed via intervention and to allow the children to be taught in groups best aligned with their current phonic level.
• The teaching of non-phonetically decodable ‘red words’ in line with their phonic reading progress.

 

Impact

The impact of the teaching of phonics at Ashford Hill will be frequently monitored and assessed through:

• Read Write Inc. screening assessments carried out at least once per half term (every six weeks) with all children on the RWI scheme.
• Government statutory phonics screening checks will be carried out with all children in the summer term of Year 1. Children not achieving the pass mark will be supported with interventions to support them before a resit is taken in the summer term of Year 2.
• Frequent coaching of phonics teaching staff will take place to support and develop the high-quality teaching of phonics at Ashford Hill Primary.

 

For further information about how children learn to read, write and spell using Read Write Inc. Phonics, please watch the following videos. 

Understanding how phonics works. 

A simple explanation of how phonics works and the 44 sounds needed for children to learn to read.

What is Read, Write Inc. Phonics?

A guide to how Read Write Inc. phonics works and how parents and carers can support their children to become confident, enthusiastic readers.

How to say the sounds 

 Use this guide to support your child when practising the sounds at home

Sound-blending

Sound-blending describes how children learn to join sounds together to make words with Read Write Inc. Phonics. 

Parent video: Why read to your child

Reading to your child is one of the most valuable things you can do as a parent to ensure their well-being. In this video, find out about the benefits of reading to your child.

Parent video: 10 things to think about when you read to your child

Watch our short parent tutorial - 10 things to think about when you read to your child.

For more information about RWI please click here: Read Write Inc. – A guide for parents

Year 1 phonics screening check

In June each year, Year 1 children take part in the statutory phonics screening check; children will also retake in Year 2 if they did not achieve the necessary standard in Year 1. The screen is part of the classroom routine and will be carried out by the class teacher. The children’s results are shared with parents and the school results published on the website.