Early Reading
At Manor Leas Junior Academy, reading is at the very heart of our learning. We strongly believe that children should be encouraged to foster a love for reading for pleasure and our main aim is to ensure that every child becomes a confident, fluent reader who can apply their reading skills throughout the whole of the curriculum.
Intent
We are a school which promotes reading in all areas of the curriculum. Pupils are assessed on their phonics knowledge as soon as they join the school. Any pupils who have gaps in their phonics knowledge are arranged into groups and follow the Read, Write Inc programme. We place great emphasis on ensuring daily, high quality, systematic, discrete phonics teaching is delivered consistently across our school.
Implementation
As a school, we follow the Read, Write, Inc (RWI) phonics programme and, for those who are identified as requiring it, the teaching of phonics begins as soon as pupils start school. RWI is the UK's leading synthetic phonics programme with the most bespoke phonics professional development. It follows a systematic process of phonological teaching, which helps all children learn to read fluently - and at speed - so they can focus on their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.
How is it taught?
Reading - the children:
- learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts
- learn to read words using 'Fred talk' and sound blending
- read from a range of storybooks and non-fictions books matched to their phonic knowledge
- develop comprehension skills in stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It' discussion questions
Writing - the children:
- learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds
- learn to write words by using Fred Talk
- learn to build sentences by orally practising sentences before they write
In phonics lessons, children are taught to use pure sounds (‘m’ not’ muh’,’s’ not ‘suh’, etc.). This is so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily.
To help the children blend these sounds into words, we use Fred (a frog cuddly toy) who is an expert on sounding out words! This is called ‘Fred Talk’. For example, m-o-p, c-a-t, m-a-n, sh-o-p.
Within the phonics lesson, children practice reading words which include the sounds that they have been taught.
As well as learning to read and blend real words children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading ‘Nonsense words’.
Impact
Pupils become fluent, confident readers who have a genuine enthusiasm and enjoyment for reading. RWI provides pupils with the skills to decode unfamiliar words. Pupils are assessed via RWI every 6 weeks and these results are analysed and phonics groups are adjusted. Regular assessment like this allowed for pupils to be identified quickly if they are falling behind. RWI phonics unlocks the code for reading and once pupils are confident with the 44 phonemes, reading fluency and comprehension skills are taught on a whole-class basis.
After phonics
When children have confidently secured all sounds and have progressed through all of the storybook stages (achieving 60 accurate words per minute), children will move on to whole class reading, with a focus - initially - on reading fluency. Reading fluency focuses on phrasing, pace, smoothness and expression. We believe reading fluency is vital because fluent readers do not have to concentrate on decoding words and can focus their attention on their comprehension of the text as a whole.
- Every word can be sounded out using known phonics
- New sounds are introduced gradually within meaningful stories
- Books are re-read multiple times with guidance
- First read (decoding focus): sounding out words accurately
- Second read (fluency): reading more smoothly with fewer pauses
- Third read (comprehension & expression): focusing on meaning, tone, and enjoyment
Because children already know the phonics in the book, they don’t have to guess words. This frees up mental energy to focus on flow and meaning, which is essential for fluency.
Repeated reading of the same text helps children recognise words quickly without sounding them out every time. This leads to smoother, faster reading.
By the third read, children are guided to read like a storyteller—paying attention to punctuation, character voice, and rhythm. That’s a key marker of fluency.
Fluency isn’t just speed—it’s reading with understanding. Because the texts are accessible, children can actually think about the story rather than struggle through it.
Successfully reading a whole book (rather than isolated words) gives children a sense of achievement, which encourages more reading practice—critical for fluency development.
- Transition from slow decoding → smooth reading
- Develop accuracy, speed, and expression together
- Build habits of re-reading and self-correction
If you would like more detailed knowledge about the RWI scheme, click on the links below.
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/bookshop/read-write-inc-phonics-reading-at-home/
This video supports home learning if your child is learning to blend and segment sounds.
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