Learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn at our school. Everything else depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible. 

We want your child to love reading – and to want to read for themselves. This is why we put our efforts into making sure they develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read.

How will my child be taught to read? 

We start by teaching phonics to the children in the Reception class. This means that they learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters. Ask them to show you what these are.  

The children also practise reading (and spelling) what we call ‘tricky words’, such as ‘once,’ ‘have,’ ‘said’ and ‘where’.  

The children practise their reading with books that match the phonics and the ‘tricky words’ they know. They start thinking that they can read and this does wonders for their confidence.  

The teachers read to the children, too, so the children get to know all sorts of stories, poetry and information books. They learn many more words this way and it also helps their writing.  

How will I know how well my child is doing? 

We will always let you know how well your child is doing.  

We use various ways to find out how the children are getting on in reading. We use the information to decide what reading group they should be in. Your child will work with children who are at the same reading level as him or her. Children will move to a different group if they are making faster progress than the others. Your child will have one-to-one support if we think he or she needs some extra help to keep up.   

We also use a reading test so that we can make sure that all our children are at the level that they should be for their age compared to all the children across the country.  

In the summer term, the government asks us to do a phonics check of all the Year 1 children. That gives us extra information about their progress. We will talk to you about how well your child has done, and especially if we have any worries at all. 

How long will it take to learn to read well? 

By the end of Year 2, your child should be able to read aloud books that are at the right level for his or her age. In Year 3 we concentrate more on helping children to understand what they are reading, although this work begins very early on. This happens when the teacher reads to the children and also when the children read their own story book.  

How do I know the teaching will be good?  

All the staff have been trained to teach reading in the way we do it in this school. We believe that it is very important that all the teachers and teaching assistants work in the same way. Senior teachers watch other teachers teaching to make sure that the children are learning in the way we want them to learn.  

If you are worried about the teaching or you have any questions, please come to school and talk to us.  

What can I do to help? Is there anything that I shouldn't do? 

 

You will be invited to a meeting so that we can explain how we teach reading. Please come and support your child. We would very much like you to know how to help.  

Your child will bring different sorts of books home from school. It helps if you know whether this is a book that your child can read on their own or whether this is a book that you should read to them. The teacher will have explained which is which. Please trust your child’s teacher to choose the book(s) that will help your child the most. 

Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘push’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds. You can hear how to say the sounds correctly at this link: https://ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/#lg=1&slide=2 

Story Time at Home 

Sometimes your child might bring home a picture book that they know well. Please don’t say, ‘This is too easy.’ Instead, encourage your child to tell you the story out loud; ask them questions about things that happen or what they think about some of the characters in the story. 

We know parents and carers are very busy people. But if you can find time to read to your child as much as possible, it helps him or her to learn about books and stories. They also learn new words and what they mean. Show that you are interested in reading yourself and talk about reading as a family. You can find out about good stories to read to your child here: https://www.facebook.com/miskin.education  

At Woodlands Park Primary School, we have a passion for teaching your children reading and ensure that all children to have access to high quality teaching and learning environments in order that your children develop a love and enthusiasm for reading.

If you would like to find out more about the Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc Programme, please follow the link below.

Ruth Miskin - Read Write Inc

Here you will find information from one of our phonics and reading parent meetings.There are visual slides, alongside detailed notes for each section. Miss Sansom is our Phonics Leader and she is happy to help you and your child with any questions or support that is needed.

 

 

As a school, we are working towards one shared aim: to build a community of readers who have a pleasure and enjoyment for reading. This doesn’t just mean liking reading, but also having the willingness to read. To be able to truly achieve this, there are skills we need to support the children in building and practising throughout their reading journey.

 

 

To be able to read, children need to be taught the alphabetic code. That is, when they see letters, the can say sounds they represent, so they can decode words accurately. The problem with the English language, is that it very complex. Our language consists of 44 sounds we make when saying words (/m/, /a/, /s/), only 26 letters in the alphabet (a, b, c…) and over 150 ways of spelling these 44 sounds!! Children in England are instantly pushed into the deep end. Take Spanish for example: the alphabetic code here has only 24 sounds, 26 letters in the alphabet and just 29 ways of spelling them – neat and simplistic! Children in Spain learn to read quickly.

 

Think about learning to play a musical instrument…

Most of us see playing an instrument to be a specialised skill, a talent, something that is impressive. But, so is reading! Humans are not born with the ability to just read. They have to learn the skill in incremental steps and practise regularly.

When learning an instrument, children will go through these stages:

• Learn how to hold their instrument and play 2 or 3 basic notes until they can play them quickly and without thinking
• Practise using these notes to play simple tunes… which again, they repeatedly practise until they play quickly and fluently
• Learn a few more notes and practise
• Use everything they know and can do easily to play a new melody… which again, they practise, over and over.

Reading needs that same treatment for it to be most successful.

 

 

The reading journey begins in foundation and continues through our lifetime. We never truly stop practising this skill. Even as adults, we sometimes come across new and unfamiliar words. When we begin the journey, we teach children to say sounds when they see letters, helping them to build the association and recall them speedily. When they can do this, we can then introduce words with the sounds they know for them to read. We will read, reread and read some more until they can recognise them. Just like learning an instrument, we constantly teach new sounds and provide children the chance to practise identifying and reading these in words.

 

Once a child has that basic code, and they practise reading sounds and words regularly, they can then start to build their other skills: fluency, comprehension and final their pleasure for reading. The key to this success is rereading. But not just any book, rereading fully, decodable books. This means a child is reading a book that only contains the letters and sounds they know and can read independently. Because of this, they can then start to talk about and discuss the book, whilst showing their understanding by using expression and emphasising words when reading. This also means children are having time to practise reading at home, rather than learning it at home.

 

 

Let’s watch this child enjoying reading their Storybook and showing how they can read fluently. This child (like your own) will have read his book 3 times in school with the class teacher, building his fluency and storyteller voice). This video may make you think, “that books too easy for him”. So often, when children read something quickly, we often think they need to be challenged, pushed on, exposed to something ‘trickier. Instead, children reading quickly opens up their opportunity to be storytellers, to practice their skill and ‘show off’ to us at home. Instead of saying to your child “I think you need a challenge” or “that books to easy for you” when they read fluently and with ease, start saying “I loved how you read that story to me”, “aren’t you a fantastic storyteller” or “I loved the voices you used to tell the story, it really made me enjoy it”. Children hearing this positive praise will help build their enjoyment and motivate them to continue their journey, but it also celebrates the hard work they have been putting into their reading.

 

To support the best progress for all children, we have invested into the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme which offers clear, well-structured lessons to support children’s phonics skills and knowledge. RWI promotes good progress for all children and works at a pace right for the individual child. RWI lessons take place daily from 9-10am for a whole hour, where children practise phonics, reading and writing at a level appropriate for their individual needs. It does not matter what year group or class your child is in, they will receive the teaching that is right for them – no holding back, no pushing on too early, juuuust right!

One of the biggest benefits of WRInc is the matched books for reading. This means children will be able to read every word in a book they encounter as they only have graphemes in they have seen and learned before. Another huge benefit is the online support available to teachers, children and parents. We may share videos with you throughout the school year – watch this space.

 

 

Each half term the children will be assessed to check which colour group they should be working in. In some cases, we may move children into another group should we make any teacher judgements within the phonics lessons. These changes will be based on what we see in school, during RWI lessons. The children have time in these sessions to build their phonics, reading and writing skills.

 

 

During a RWI lesson, children work through 3 main elements within the hour they have:

1. Phonics (speed sounds and word time)
2. Reading practise
3. Writing practise

For an entire hour, children practise these skills at their challenge level meaning they are constantly making progress.

 

 

In our school, children read each Read Write Inc. Storybook three times in class with their partner.

Re-reading the same book helps children to become confident readers. Each time they re-read, they build their fluency/speed and comprehension.

They love reading and want to read because they can read all of the words in the Storybook.

We set a focus for each re-read in school. The first read focuses on reading every word accurately. The second on reading the story more quickly. The third read on comprehension - understanding what they read. Then your child brings the same book home to read and enjoy with you again and again at home.

It’s ‘three with me, four at home.’ We do not send stories home the children cannot read because we always want them to be set up to succeed in their reading. We want to make sure they enjoy reading so that they want to read. The more they read, the faster progress they will make. School is the place where they learn new things, home is where they show off what they know. It should be the place where reading is less stressful and demanding.

 

 

Your child will bring home three books:

1. A copy of the same book they have read in school with their RWI teacher (e.g. Black Hat Bob) – these are black and white paper copies. They do have a space saying ‘name, but please refrain from writing anything here as we would like them returned to school just as a usual reading book would be. We understand these may tire more quickly or accidents can happen at home, but we can dispose of these as this becomes the case.
2. A matched book bag book (e.g. Red Hat Rob) – this is a book that has the same letters and sounds in (just like the first one), but they won’t have read it in school. This means they will have to practise building that accuracy, fluency and comprehension at home.
3. A library book – these are not books for the children to read independently, but ones for you to share and enjoy with them (they don’t yet have enough of the alphabetic code to necessarily read this themselves)

For any other books you might have at home (e.g. Floppy phonics books, Biff and Chip books etc), please do not use these to replace the ones we send home. It is important reading at home becomes about fluency and enjoyment, not challenge. Please do still share these books with your child – we appreciate they enjoy these – but make sure it’s a book you read together, not one you expect them to read for you as the sounds may not match what they know.

 

 

Some children may not come home with a storybook, but perhaps a sound blending book instead. These are books designed to help your child practise reading with their phonics knowledge, just one word at a time. Please do not panic if your child brings these home – especially if they have already been bringing storybooks home before now. This is what they need at the moment to ensure their progress later. Celebrate what they have brought home and enjoy them. Remember, our old system of books were not full decodable: one day a book was easy (it had only sounds your child knew), the next book was hard (it had future sounds they were yet to learn). Now we are fortunate to be part of system that works and promotes fantastic outcomes for all children. Please embrace what is sent home and be proud of your child and their efforts.

 

 

As well as sending physical resources home, we will also share online access to the books. This platform will share the assigned books your child is expected to read (the same ones in their book bags) and also has a platform for them to quiz on their book independently. Pupil login details will be shared soon.

Important Information:

We have begun to collect in our old coloured reading books, so these are removed from circulation. Your children will be starting their Read Write Inc journey as of the week beginning 15^th November. During this week, they will become familiar with the routines and structures of the lessons, but they will not bring home any books. For this week, please share library books with your child and focus on building that positive energy around reading. Books will be sent home during the week beginning 22^nd November in line with our teaching in school. Books are changed regularly, so please leave this in your child’s bag so we can do this as and when is needed.

 

 

Once children reach a particular stage in their reading journey, they can leave the RWI programme. This is when your child can read more than 90 words in a minute, whilst reading with some expression and a level of understanding about what they read. If this does happen, we will still continue to practise reading and writing skills (these are always developing) but in a slightly different way. At this point, your child will no longer bring home RWI books, but they will start to bring home books recommended by their class teacher as well as library books (chapter books mostly) which match their reading needs. They will join accelerated reader where they bring these books home, and then quiz on them in school.

 

Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask your child’s class teacher or Miss Sansom.

Remember, we all have the same agenda; for your child to be the best reader they can be. Let’s work together and help them succeed!