Reading & Phonics
Phonics
Read, Write, Inc. Phonics is used as the main scheme for teaching phonics in school. Read, Write, Inc. Phonics is a rigorous and dynamic synthetic phonics programme aimed at creating fluent and enthusiastic readers, confident speakers and willing writers. Children are taught the individual sounds first through a picture the same shape as the letter, for example for ‘a’ there is a picture of an apple and ‘s’ is a picture of a snake. These are called ‘speed sounds’ because we want your children to read them effortlessly. There are 3 sets of sounds. Set 1 contains all of the letters in the alphabet. The first 6 sounds taught are m, a, s, d, t, i, n. Once your child knows these sounds they can start learning to blend the sounds together to read words.
Children still working within phonics receive 30 minutes direct teaching per day.
Reading
At Lumley Infant and Nursery School, we believe that all pupils should have access to a wide range of texts and genres to develop their vocabulary, language comprehension and love of reading. Pupils are familiar with and enjoy listening to a wide range of stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction texts. We promote a love of reading through our inviting class story corners, author visits, regular book fairs and whole class story time sessions.
Here are some of our class story corners:
Guided Reading
Children in Reception, Year One and Year Two are grouped across school for phonics, reading and writing. Children now spend 90 minutes every day, within an ability group to complete daily phonics, reading and writing tasks. These tasks follow the Read Write. Inc. Scheme. Groups follow a different timetable, therefore reading will not always happen on the same day each week. Pupils have the opportunity to share texts within a small group, to develop a range of skills to develop reading accuracy and fluency. Teacher’s also focus on developing pupil’s comprehension skills, fluency and love of reading. The text provided is always closely matched to children’s reading and phonic ability and is also sent home each week for children to practice. Read Write Inc. is the main reading scheme that is utilised in school as it is well matched to the phonics scheme taught. However, we have an abundance of reading schemes available in school, which are used to give children breadth and depth to their reading.
Depending on their Read Write Inc. stage, children will be provided with a range of materials to help them practice their reading at home. Pupils may be given an A4 sheet with words and sounds to practice, or a short book containing one word per page, then building up to reading longer texts.
Most readers will be provided with two books:
1. A paper copy of the book children have read in school. This book should be read fluently by children.
2. A glossy ‘book bag book’ for additional practice. This book will not have been read in school but will be matched to your child’s reading ability and most words should read on-sight.
Library
Every week, pupils are given time to select a library book that they can take home to share with their family. This book is not matched to the children’s reading ability. The purpose of library books is to develop children’s love for reading and to equip all families to a have the opportunity to share a wealth of stories and non-fiction text with their children at home. The importance of reading aloud to children is promoted with parents and carers throughout the school year.
Additional Resources to Support at Home
Parent’s Guide to Developing Early Reading and Writing Skills
Read Write Inc. E-books
Read Write Inc., have recently launched e-Books that can be accessed through the Oxford Owls website. Pupils will been given their own individual login, which they can use to access e-Books at home. At the beginning of each half term, teachers will assign pupils with a bank of books that are matched to their reading ability. These are additional to, and do not replace, the weekly reading book they receive from school. There is no expectation to read an e-Book every week. This is an additional resource available to support your child’s reading development at home. Often, e-Books are a great way to motivate reluctant readers!
New Read Write Inc e-Book Letter for Parents
Bug Club
Bug Club offers a wide range of highly engaging and stimulating e-Books that can be accessed at home via a computer, iPad or tablet. Pupils will be given their own individual logins so that teachers can assign a bank of texts, matched to their reading ability, on a fortnightly basis. Again this is an additional resource available to support your child’s reading development at home.
Letter Join
Letter-join includes animations of all the letters of the alphabet with a spoken commentary on how to write each letter, using a pre-cursive style. Patterns, Letters and Words can all be watched and traced onscreen. Magic Words lets you trace over your own words on a number of exciting backgrounds and Custom Words lets you input your own words, replay the video and trace over the words for IWB practice.
Junior School
At Lumley Junior School, we believe that all pupils should have access to a wide range of texts and genres to develop their vocabulary, language comprehension and love of reading. Pupils are familiar with and enjoy listening to a wide range of stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction texts at Lumley Juniors. We promote a love of reading through our extensive library, author visits and regular book fairs.
Reading
Reading is taught in a variety of ways including:
- Phonic sessions (where necessary) using the Read Write Inc phonics scheme
- Individual reading with the class teacher
- Reading skills across the curriculum
- Guided reading sessions
- Reading during English lessons
- Whole class novels
- Online reading texts and audio books.
Guided reading
Children in all years will read with their teacher at least once a week. Pupils have the opportunity to share texts within a small group, to develop a range of skills to develop reading accuracy and fluency. Teacher’s also focus on developing pupil’s comprehension skills, fluency and love of reading. The text provided is always closely matched to children’s reading and phonic ability and is also sent home each week for children to practice. Oxford Reading ‘TreeTops’ is the main reading scheme that is utilised in school, it is an expertly levelled reading programme for juniors. All books are finely levelled at Key Stage 2 and supports progression of the National Curriculum as well as offering children a fun and variety to keep them reading. Many of our guided reading books are available as e-books along with quizzes at Oxford Reading Buddy – Log in
Phonics
The Read Write Inc programme includes a systematic and dynamic whole-school approach to teaching phonics. Many pupils in school follow this phonics programme which supports their individual reading level.
As part of the scheme, we use the Read Write Inc reading books that coincide with the sounds taught in school. Teachers carefully choose and send home a corresponding Read Write Inc book-bag book that is a phonetically decodable reading book, containing sounds the children have been taught. The book-bag books also contain useful questions for parents when discussing the story at home.
Fresh Start
Some children may take part in Read Write Inc. Fresh Start. This is a catch-up and intervention programme with proven results, for 9 to 11-year-olds still learning to read. It offers a simple but powerful solution to accelerate reading progress. Students are taught at their challenge point, so they learn to read accurately and fluently. They will also develop good comprehension, spelling and punctuation skills through targeted activities. Your child will bring home an anthology to read that is matched to their reading ability.
Spelling
Children learn to spell with Read Write Inc Spelling. It is a systematic spelling programme for children in Years 2 – 6. Each week your child will be given spellings to learn which follow a spelling rule along with 4 – 6 jumping red or orange words (These are national curriculum statutory spelling words.) You can find which spelling rule and words your child needs to learn below along with an information booklet that shows how you can help your child at home and access spelling games.
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Extra Practice Zone – Information Booklet.pdf | Download |
| Reading at Home – Booklet.pdf | Download |
| Spellings – Book 2A Overview.pdf | Download |
| Spellings – Book 3 Overview.pdf | Download |
| Spellings – Book 4 Overview.pdf | Download |
| Spellings – Book 5 Overview.pdf | Download |
| Spellings – Book 6 Overview.pdf | Download |
| Spellings – Book2B Overview.pdf | Download |
Library
Our new and improved library was officially opened by Mrs Wilson and our pupil librarians. Each week, children are given time in the school library to select a library book that they can take home to share with their family. This book is not matched to the children’s reading ability. The purpose of library books is to develop children’s love for reading and to equip all families to a have the opportunity to share a wealth of stories and non-fiction text with their children at home. We have worked closely with World of Stories and with the support of Arts Council England, The National Literacy Trust and Puffin to help champion reading for pleasure and creativity in our school. Reading for pleasure opens up new worlds for children. It gives them the opportunity to use their imagination to explore new ideas, visit new places and meet new characters. Interestingly, reading for pleasure also improves children’s well-being and empathy. It helps them to understand their own identify, and gives them an insight into the world and the views of others.
