Statement of Intent

“Teach a child to read and keep that child reading and we will change everything. And I mean everything”. This quote epitomises the intent of the Read Write Inc. programme at St Gregory’s. We want children to learn to read quickly and accurately and to then keep on reading. We want children to see reading not only as a task set by teachers in school but as an activity which provides pleasure and escape from the modern world.

We passionately believe that with the right support that all children can and will learn to read. In order for all children to be successful we assess them in phonics each half term and place them in a group that is matched to their ability. We are constantly informally assessing the children to make sure that they are at the “Goldilocks spot” where the books they read are neither to easy nor too hard. If needed children receive additional support to help them on their journey to becoming a confident reader. Within the daily RWI sessions children will be encouraged and supported to not only develop their decoding skills but also their comprehension and fluency skills. The writing aspect of the programme will teach the children how to use key skills to record their ideas and they will be encourage to formulate their sentences orally before writing these on paper.

Reading does not stop at the end of the Read Write Inc. session. A love of literature will be at the heart of all learning at St Gregory’s, whether it is escaping into Narnia through a wardrobe or going on a walk through a deep dark wood in search of the Gruffalo. Books open up a whole host of learning opportunities and are the basis of wider curriculum opportunities.

At St Gregory's we use the Read, Write Inc phonics programme to teach phonics.

Read Write Inc (RWI) is a consistent, rigorous and dynamic literacy programme to teach EVERY child to read by the age of six. Using synthetic phonics, children quickly learn to blend letter sounds together following a fun and effective programme.

The RWI programme has been proven to be a very successful method of teaching every child to read and write using phonics. All children in Years R to 2 will be following the programme. They will have already been assessed so will be put into groups and given the appropriate RW1 reading and workbooks to follow. The programme can also be followed by older children to catch up. These classes will be using RWI as their reading scheme.

Children will read their RWI books every morning with a trained member of staff. These books will be kept in school. Your child will still bring home a reading book and it is still important that you listen to your child read every day.

Please click this link for an explanatory video