Early Reading / Phonics

Intent

(Why we teach Early Reading / Phonics)

'Teach a child to read and keep that child reading and we will change everything. And I mean everything'

Jeanette Winterson

Our intent at St. James for Early Reading is that every child, regardless of background, needs or abilities, will learn to read. Children will learn to decode quickly and accurately, so that reading become effortless and so comprehension skills can be developed. 

Early Reading is taught through the RWI (Read Write Inc) phonics programme.  RWI is a systematic, synthetic programme that explicitly teaches children to read fluently and accurately.  Teachers follow structured lessons as part of this programme. Sounds are taught progressively.

We assess our children regularly and place them into appropriate phonics groups with other children at a similar challenge level. Our school is committed to ensuring every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities. The lowest 20% of children are identified from our rigorous assessments and targeted for daily one-to-one tuition to help them “keep up, not catch up”.

Progress expectations

Reception
End of Autumn 1: Read single-letter Set 1 sounds.
End of Autumn term: Read all Set 1 sounds; blend sounds into words orally.
End of Spring 1: Blend sounds to read words; read short Ditty stories.
End of Spring term: Read Red Storybooks.
End of Summer 1: Read Green Storybooks; read some Set 2 sounds.
End of Summer term: Read Green or Purple Storybooks.

Year 1
End of Autumn 1: Read Purple Storybooks; read some Set 2 sounds .
End of Autumn term: Read Pink Storybooks; read all Set 2 sounds.
End of Spring 1: Read Orange Storybooks; read some Set 3 sounds .
End of Spring term: Read Yellow Storybooks.
End of Summer 1: Read Yellow Storybooks; read all of Set 3 sounds.
End of Summer term: Read Blue Storybooks.

Year 2
End of Autumn 1: Read Blue Storybooks.
End of Autumn term: Read Blue Storybooks with increasing fluency and comprehension.
End of Spring 1: Read Grey Storybooks.
End of Spring term: Read Grey Storybooks with fluency and comprehension.
End of Summer 1: Access RWI Comprehension and Spelling programmes.
End of Summer term: Access RWI Comprehension and Spelling programmes.