Phonics

At Academy 360, we strive for every child to be a successful, fluent reader by the end of KS2. We use the Read Write Inc (RWI) phonics programme across EYFS, Key Stage 1 and for those children who require phonics teaching in Key Stage 2. RWI is designed to teach children how to decode letters into sounds, a skill that is essential for them to read unfamiliar words by themselves. The children are taught letter-sounds which allow them to make links between unfamiliar print words to their spoken knowledge. The children learn the English alphabetic code: first they learn one way to read the 40+ sounds and blend these sounds into words, then learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes.

Our children experience success from the very beginning. The phonics books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases. Along with a thought-provoking introduction, prompts for thinking out loud and discussion, children are helped to read with a storyteller’s voice.