Phonics and Reading

For information at what is expected in Reading at the end of each year, please go to the page End of Year Expectations

In our school, we follow the Read, Write, Inc phonics program, which our pupicls really enjoy. Read, Write, Inc Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly and compose their ideas step-by-step. We teach sounds in 'sets' working through pure sounds to ensure pupils can blend accurately for reading. For information on set 1, 2 and 3 sounds, click on the Oxford Owl image which will take you to their website which is full of useful resources, information and books

There are different types of words that we learn to read. Green words we can read by sounding them our using a 'Fred Fingers' approach. Children make the sounds they can see in a word and blend them together. For example, c-a-t = cat and b-oy = boy.

We learn a diagraph is two letters that make one sound and a trigraph is three letters that make one sound. We also learn that a split vowel diagraph makes one sound (see examples to the right). We call these special friends. Children use this knowledge to read words effectively.

We also have red words which children need to learn by sight. We say "You can't Fred a red!". These are also known as High Frequency Words. The first 300 High Frequency Words are listed below.

Reading Comprehension

Reading is more than decoding words. Children become fluent readers by reading a variety of texts as well as listening to them. Asking your children about what they have read supports them in developing their comprehension and understanding of what they have read.

Teaching children inference (being able to read between the lines) can be tricky for pupils. You can help by discussing points at home when reading your child's favourite book and asking them questions.

Questioning is an important part of developing reading comprehension. Here are some examples of questions you can ask your child when reading a book together. Why not print them out and use them as a book mark?