Phonics and Early Reading

At our school, we are passionate about ensuring every child becomes a confident, fluent reader. We use the Read Write Inc. (RWI) Phonics programme, a highly successful and widely used approach that helps children develop strong reading, writing and communication skills from the very start of their school journey.

What is Read Write Inc.?

Read Write Inc. is a systematic synthetic phonics programme developed by literacy expert Ruth Miskin. It teaches children how to:

• Recognise the sounds that letters and letter groups make
• Blend sounds together to read words
• Segment words into sounds to support spelling and writing

Through this structured approach, children quickly learn to decode words, build fluency and develop a love of reading.

When does phonics start?

Phonics teaching begins in Reception and continues through Key Stage 1, typically completing the programme by the end of Year 2.

Children are taught in groups based on their reading stage rather than their age. This ensures that:

• Every child learns at the right level
• Progress is carefully tracked
• No child is left behind

How the programme works

Read Write Inc. is carefully organised to build skills step by step.

Learning sounds

Children begin by learning the Set 1 ‘Speed Sounds’ (single-letter sounds and simple digraphs such as sh, ch, th). They then move on to more complex sounds in Set 2 and Set 3.  

Blending to read

Children are taught to blend sounds together to read words (e.g. c-a-t → cat). This is sometimes called “Fred Talk”, where children say the sounds and then read the whole word. 

Reading books

Children read carefully matched books that only include the sounds they have been taught, helping them to feel confident and successful. 

They revisit each text several times to build:

• Accuracy
• Fluency
• Understanding

Writing and speaking

Phonics is not just about reading. Children also:

• Learn to write sounds and words
• Build and speak sentences aloud before writing
• Develop vocabulary and confidence through discussion 

Daily lessons and strong routines

Children take part in daily phonics lessons, which are fast-paced, engaging and highly interactive. Lessons include:

• Revisiting previous learning
• Learning new sounds
• Practising reading and spelling
• Partner work to talk through ideas

Talk is at the heart of every lesson, helping children to explain their thinking and build confidence. 

Supporting every child

We are committed to ensuring that every child succeeds in reading. Through Read Write Inc., we provide:

• Regular assessments to monitor progress
• Targeted support and intervention where needed
• Additional one-to-one or small group teaching for children who need extra help 

This ensures that all children, including those with SEND, are supported to make strong progress.

Our Phonics Results

We are proud of the excellent outcomes our children achieve in phonics. Our pupils consistently perform highly in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check, with results above the national average for the past two years.

This success reflects:

• Strong, consistent teaching across the school
• High expectations for every child
• Early identification and support where needed

To find out more about our latest outcomes, please visit our Results Page.

Reading beyond phonics

As children become more confident readers, they move beyond phonics and begin to focus on:

• Reading with greater fluency
• Understanding texts in depth
• Developing a lifelong love of reading

Working in Partnership with Parents

We believe that reading is a partnership between home and school. We encourage parents to:

• Listen to their child read regularly
• Practise sounds and blending
• Share stories and books at home

By working together, we can give every child the best possible start in reading