Phonics

What is Read Write Inc?

At St Richard’s we recognise that reading is the gateway to the curriculum and our aim, therefore, is to support our pupils in their quest to become fluent readers as quickly as possible. Consequently, the teaching of phonics is a high priority. We believe that fidelity to the Read, Write, Inc (RWI) phonics provides the foundations of learning to make the development into fluent reading and writing easier. Children ‘learn to read’ quickly; this means that the fun can really begin as they ‘read to learn’. Children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. Through Read, Write, Inc phonics children learn a simple alphabetic code followed by a more complex code. All reading books progress cumulatively, matched to the sound’s children are learning and already know. Whilst learning to read, the children also develop a wide range of vocabulary and develop a love of stories. At St Richard’s, to get the children off to a flying start in their reading journey, we follow the programme from Nursery onwards .

The children also learn to break down or ‘segment’ words into individual sounds in order to write them. When using RWI to read the children will:

Learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into understanding what they read.

Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts.

Learn to read words using ‘Fred Talk’.

Learn to read words by blending the sounds together. Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out.

Show that they understand the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove it' discussion questions.