Reading/Phonics
Deneholm Primary School uses the Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc. Phonics programme to teach children the vital skills of decoding in Early Years and Key Stage One.
Children’s early reading begins just a few weeks into their school journey with systematic synthetic phonics teaching using Read, Write Inc. The teaching, which continues into year 1 and 2, is lively and fast paced allowing teachers to pinpoint children’s knowledge and understanding of how letters make sounds and then words.
Children are taught daily in small groups with peers who are working at the same phonic ability. There is a huge emphasis on encouraging and developing the confidence of pupils’ reading skills so as to achieve early success in reading. Levelled books from the Read, Write Inc scheme are carefully matched to allow children to apply their phonics skills and enable them to develop fluency and become independent readers.
As children’s confidence grows and they complete the RWI programme they will move on to ‘Accelerated Reader’ which enables them to select books to read of their own interest and develop a lifelong love of reading. Accelerated Reader enables teachers to track children’s reading interest, skill ability and progress.
Regular reading at home is highly encouraged and celebrated through our ‘Reading Space’ reward system. Pupils earn their name on a ‘ocean rewards’ for reading at home.
- 20 reads – star
- 40 reads – shooting star
- 80 reads – alien
- 120 reads – spacecraft
- 160 reads – rocket
- 200 reads – astronaut