Early Reading at Gilded Hollins

At Gilded Hollins, we strongly believe that reading is one of the most important skills that children learn at primary school.

To ensure that all children master reading, we use the Read Write Inc (RWI) phonics programme throughout Reception and Key Stage One. This programme  teaches children to read accurately, fluently and with understanding, building a solid base of phonic knowledge to support children with their spelling.

Direct teaching underpins Read Write Inc. Every day, children learn new sounds, and review previous sounds and words. They apply what they’ve been taught by reading words containing the sounds they know in matched decodable books and other texts, and write these sounds in individual words and, later, sentences.

Using RWI, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can then focus on comprehension. It also allows them to spell competently so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write.

We also use this programme as 1:1 or as a small group intervention for those children in KS2 who need a more targeted approach. 

When using RWI to read the children will:

• learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts
• learn to read words using Fred Talk    
• read lively stories competently featuring words they have learned to sound out
• show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions.

When using RWI to write the children will:

• learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent 44 sounds, using a helpful handwriting phrase.
• learn to write words by saying the sounds using 'Fred Fingers'

Order of teaching sounds

In  Read  Write  Inc  phonics,  the  individual  sounds  are  called  ‘speed sounds’  –  because  we  want  your  child  to  read  them effortlessly.  Set 1 sounds are the initial letter sounds. They 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

There are 12 Set 2 ‘speed sounds’ that are made up of two or three letters which represent just one sound, e.g.  ay as in play, ee as in tree and  igh  as in high. 

When children learn their Set 2 sounds, they will learn:

• the letters that represent a speed sound e.g. ay
• a  simple picture prompt linked to the  ‘speed sound’  and  a  short phrase to say e.g. ‘May I play?’

Every  speed  sound  has  a  list  of  green  words  linked  to  it,  so  your child can ‘sound out’ and ‘sound blend’ words containing the new speed sound they have just learnt, for example s-p-r-ay = spray.

When learning their Set 3 speed sounds, children will be taught that there are more ways in which the same sounds are written, e.g. ee as in tree and ea as in tea.

The table below shows the sound, the associated phrase and example green words. 

Within all the books children will have red and green words to learn to help them to become speedy readers. 

Red words are words that are not easily decodable and challenge words to extend children’s vocabulary. 

Green words are linked to the sounds they have been learning and are easily decodable.

 What can you do at home? 

We believe that teaching your child to read relies on a good partnership between home and school. When you are reading with your child at home, it is important that the sounds you say are the 'pure sounds.' You may find they tell you off if you don’t!

Click the link below to hear how to pronounce sounds correctly. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q

Nonsense words (Alien words)          

As well as learning to read and blend real words children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading ‘Nonsense words’. These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term. 

If you would like any further information, the Ruth Miskin Website has a wealth of useful videos and information. 

http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/

All classes have a ‘class reader’ – a book that is shared together and read by the whole class.

Reading in Key Stage Two

The approach to reading throughout Key Stage 2 may be seen as taking a ‘multi-layered approach’.

• Each class has a targeted reading lesson each day alongside their English lesson. This lesson is a Whole Class Reading session. Over the course of a week, the children take part in two lessons based on their class reader and three lessons on a linked theme. For example, in Year Six the children explore texts based on the theme of Pompeii (a non-fiction text, fiction text and a song) for one week. The linked themes are selected to match other areas of the curriculum, relevant things in the wider world which are not covered on our curriculum and significant people in our history.

• 1 lesson each week is a dedicated comprehension lesson, where children are taught specific reading skills:

        Comprehension, the author's use of language, inference, meaning and books (whereby children are encouraged to            make links with others stories and texts). Questions about the relevant texts are based on these reading skills.

• In addition, one afternoon is dedicated to foster a passion for stories and the written word.  This is where children are given the chance to share and talk about a range of books whilst in a small group with like-minded peers, in a similar way to a book circle. This book goes home and is shared with parents to continue the strong reading link between home and school.

All classes have a ‘class reader’ – a book that is shared together and read by the whole class.

Regardless of year group, it is the expectation that every child in school will read at home at least five times weekly. This is monitored in school through the school planners and posted on Seesaw for staff to keep track of.