Reading and Phonics

To view our Intent, Implementation and Impact to Reading and Writing please view the English Curriculum section of our website.

Reading

At Walworth School, we recognise that reading is a key life skill, and are dedicated to encouraging and enabling our pupils to become confident and proficient readers. We believe that reading is the cornerstone for the whole curriculum and mastering this skill is key to success. We provide well-structured resources and programmes to support children’s development of reading, which focuses on mastering phonological awareness, word decoding, sight reading and comprehension. Every class has access to Read Write Inc. reading books, the Oxford Tree reading scheme, a class-based library and the school library.

Phonics Intervention

All children who require phonics to help them learn to read fluently follow the Read Write Inc. phonics schemes. In years 1 to 4, this involves children having small group or one-to-one daily phonics lessons using Read Write Inc. Children in years 5 and 6 who continue to require phonics will access Read Write Inc.’s Fresh Start program. This program is an intervention, taught above and beyond daily English lessons, which supports the development of reading and writing knowledge to help individuals maximise their progress.
Read Write Inc. is a scheme developed by Ruth Miskin. If you would like more information on Read Write Inc., click here

Read Write Inc. includes lots of resources that parents / carers can use at home. Parents and carers can access 27 Read Write Inc. Phonics eBook titles for extra practice with their children at home, plus three Fresh Start Anthologies. In addition to this, 62 Speed Sound Practice Sheets are also available to download.
To access this, you will need to create a free account on Oxford Owl to access the eBooks at home.

Individual Reading

At Walworth School we aim to hear every child read individually every day. Children accessing Read Write Inc. are allocated Book Bag Books to read in class. These are closely matched to sounds the children have already learnt, ensuring that children can decode the texts effectively. Children accessing Fresh Start are assigned an anthology to read which is closely linked to the module they are working on in their interventions.

All other children are assigned reading books on Oxford Reading Tree. The level a child is allocated is closely linked to their reading ability and assessed regularly to ensure maximum progress through the scheme. The Oxford Reading Tree scheme provides wide ranging, quality texts to give children a broad breadth of reading experiences.

Shared Reading

Shared reading takes place within English lessons and across the wider curriculum. The teacher models the key reading skills to the whole class. Children have the opportunity to support each other when reading and are encouraged to read in front of their peers.

Reading Lessons

Teachers plan and implement one whole-class reading lesson each week as part of their English lessons. The lessons focus on one area of knowledge or a development of a reading skill linked to the National Curriculum. Content of the lesson is differentiated to meet individual needs.

Reading for Pleasure

We value reading for pleasure and enjoyment and therefore allow time for this during the week. In KS2, pupils also engage with an age-appropriate class novel, which is usually read by a teacher or support member of staff.  In these sessions, teachers are facilitating an ethos that allows pupils to ‘become lost in the book’. In KS1, pupils engage with short stories on a regular basis as part of a ‘story time’ session.

Additional Reading and Spelling Intervention

Whilst the majority of children will master decoding by using a synthetic phonics program, we acknowledge that some children require further support in addition to this program. Children who continue to struggle with reading are offered Toe-by-toe, a whole word sight reading program.