Children begin their reading journey at St Joseph’s learning to read using the Read Write Inc Phonics scheme to say phonemes, write graphemes and blend sounds to read words.
Making a Strong Start – Reception
We follow the Read Write Inc ‘Making a Strong Start’ to ensure all children make great progress learning to read when they start school at St Joseph’s. When your child starts school in EYFS Reception, they will start learning to say and write the Read Write in Set 1 Sounds.
During the first few weeks, children will have a daily whole class Speedsound lesson where they will learn to say new sounds, practice sounds they have been taught and have opportunities to write these sounds.
These are the sounds your child will be learning:
m, a, s, d, t
i, n, p, g, o
c, k, u, b
f, e, l, h
r, j, v, y, w
z, x
Click on the link to learn more about Learning to read with phonics in this Parent Guide (including videos to help tour and your child pronounce the sounds correctly).
While your child is learning these sounds in school you can help them by reading at home and practice writing these sounds. Your child will bring home a ditty sheet to practice writing the taught sounds and can practice saying the sound via the RWI videos shared with parents.
Learning to Blend
During the first few weeks we will assess your child to see which sounds they are confident reading and writing.
They will then start working in smaller groups every day to continue to learn to read new sounds, practice the sounds they know and to blend sounds together to read words. They will continue to have the opportunity to write letter sounds daily.
While your child is learning to blend in school you can help them by reading at home.
Your child will bring 2 books home to read:
A Read Write Inc Sound blending book
Practice blending the sounds your child is learning in school.
Your child is now learning to blend sounds. Please read the Sound Blending Book with your child to practice blending the sounds. Don’t just read the book once, re-read it multiple times to help your child become fluent blending these sounds.
A reading for pleasure book (a book to share)
This is a high-quality book to read with or to your child and share the excitement and enjoyment of a story.
This book may include words with sounds that your child has not yet learnt or is not yet confident reading. You can read the book to them, share the story and talk about the book to help them enjoy books and stories while they are still learning new sounds and words.
It is important you do not expect your child to read this book independently – it is a book to be read and shared together.
Reading Storytime Books
Once your child is confident blending sounds in the Blending books, they will have daily phonics lessons in small groups and will start to read Storytime Phonics books.
Every day, your child will have a Speedsound session to learn to read new sounds, practice reading the sounds they know and practice writing the sounds they know.
Also, every day they will read a Storytime book to learn to practice to read ‘green words’ These are words that they can ‘Fred Talk’ to segment and decode using the phonics sounds they know. In the Storytime books they will also learn to read ‘red words’ which are tricky words that are not phonetically decodable.
While your child is learning to blend in school you can help them by reading at home.
Your child will have bring 3 books home to read:
A copy of the Read Write Inc Phonics Storybook Book that they are reading in school.
Reading this at home will help your child become secure with the sounds they are currently learning in school.
Encourage your child to read this book independently although they may need some support with the sounds they are learning. Ask questions about the book and talk lots about the story. Don’t just read it once – read the book multiple times to develop fluency and deeper understanding.
A copy of a Read Write Inc Phonics Book Bag Book which has sounds your child has already learned in school and is familiar with.
Reading this book at home will help your child become more confident and fluent reading words with these sounds. Your child may bring home a book they have previously read at home, because research shows this is important in order to allow them to develop familiarity with words and sounds and become fluent and confident with words and their meaning. Your child should be confident reading this book independently – encourage them to read it to you and spend lots of time asking questions and talking about the story and characters.
Don’t just read it once – read the book multiple times to develop fluency and deeper understanding.
A reading for pleasure book ( a book to share)
This is a high-quality book to read with or to your child and share the excitement and enjoyment of a story.
This book may include words with sounds that your child has not yet learnt or is not yet confident reading. You can read the book to them, share the story and talk about the book to help them enjoy books and stories while they are still learning new sounds and words. It is important you do not expect your child to read this book independently – it is a book to be read and shared together.