We ensure that daily, systematic, discrete phonics teaching is delivered consistently across our academy. At Manor Farm Academy, we teach phonics through the systematic, synthetic phonics programme, ‘Read Write Inc’. We ensure that children make a strong start in Reception and the children are taught a daily phonics lesson right from the start of their time in school which follows the progression for Read Write Inc. Children will be taught the ‘set 1’ sounds initially. These are accompanied by a handwriting rhyme which help them form the letters to write them accurately.
Read Write Inc. (RWI) is a phonics complete literacy programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. We begin the programme in Reception and continue teaching RWI to children until they can read fluently.
For more information regarding Read Write Inc. and how parents/carers can help to support phonics learning at home, please click on the link below.
At school we use a puppet called Fred who only speaks in sounds. We call this Fred Talk. For example, Fred would say d-o-g, we would say dog. Your child is taught to hear sounds and blend them together to say words.
As your child learns each sound (phoneme), they are also taught to blend the sounds together to say and read CVC words such as mat, sit, pin.
Fred Fingers are used for spelling. Your child is taught to sound out the word they are spelling and put up the correct number of fingers for the sounds they can hear in the word. For example: m-e-t = 3 sounds = 3 fingers.
Green Words
When your child can orally blend sounds to say words, your child will start to read ‘green’ words. ‘Green’ words are words which can be sounded out and blended.
Red Words
When children start to read short ditties, your child will be taught to read ‘red’ words. These words are words with ‘tricky letters’ which can’t be sounded out phonetically. Your child will be taught the red words in a specific order, which will correlate with the books they are reading in lessons.
Whilst your child is learning their initial sounds in Reception, they will bring home a wordless picture book in their book bag, which will be changed each week. This will give them the opportunity to develop a range of important reading skills. Once your child can blend the sounds they know to read words, they will bring home a Read Write Inc. book bag book which will contain words and sounds that children have been taught. Children should practise reading these books regularly throughout the week so that they can read them confidently, fluently and independently.
In reception we teach writing through Read Write Inc. We teach handwriting, spelling and composition separately, gradually bringing each skill together step-by-step.
We teach children to form letters with the correct pencil grip and in the correct sitting position from the very beginning. They practice handwriting every day so they learn to write quickly and easily. Once children can write simple words, we teach them to ‘hold’ a sentence in their heads and then write it with correct spelling and punctuation.
Very soon children are able to write down their own ideas. We try out different sentences together, drawing on new vocabulary and phrases from the storybook they’ve just read. They practice saying their sentences out loud first so they don’t forget their ideas while they’re writing. They also learn to proofread their own writing using ready-made sentences containing common grammar, punctuation and spelling errors.
Storytime is the highlight of every day. We have a bank of stories that children get to know really well, and others we read just for fun. Children learn to retell the story, learn the refrains by heart and act out the stories in the role-play area. As part of our daily routine, we also enjoy reciting poems and rhymes and singing a range of familiar songs.
