Phonics
Intent
At Downton C of E Primary School, we are passionate about helping every child become a confident, fluent reader. We follow the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme by Ruth Miskin, a highly effective and engaging approach that supports children in developing strong reading skills from an early age.
Implementation
We teach phonics and reading daily to develop confident, fluent readers.
Each lesson includes:
Speed Sounds – Learning and revising letter-sound correspondences.
Reading Practice – Reading phonically decodable books matched to children’s ability.
Spelling Activities – Learning to use sounds within words.
Children are grouped according to their phonic knowledge and assessed every half term, with groups changing regularly to ensure progress.
Click here to see the expectation of progress document for Read Write Inc. Phonics.
Impact
Through the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, our children develop into confident, fluent readers with a strong foundation in decoding, comprehension, and spelling skills. Regular, half termly assessments ensure all pupils make progress, with targeted support and additional catch up sessions for those who need it.
Children in Year 1 sit the Phonics Screening Check and any child who does not pass the check resits it in Year 2. Through assessments, those pupils requiring additional support to meet the threshold in the Screening Check, are given targetted practise in decoding real and psuedo words. There is ongoing assessment and support for those pupils who enter Key Stage two and have not passed the screening check.
Supporting your child at home
Parents play a vital role in supporting their child’s reading journey by practising phonics at home. Regular reading together helps reinforce the sounds and blending skills learned in school, building confidence and fluency.
To support you, here is a link to the Read Write Inc. website which has some useful videos demonstrating how we teach phonics, along with tips for practising at home:
Read, Write Inc. learning to read at home for families and carers
