Early Reading and Phonics at Willowbank

At Willowbank, we are committed to ensuring that all our children become successful, fluent readers and writers by the end of Key Stage One. We firmly believe that this achievement is possible through a combination of high-quality phonics teaching and daily opportunities to practise essential reading skills.

To support early reading development, we provide a structured series of daily phonics lessons that introduce, review, practise, and apply new sounds. Our Department for Education- validated systematic synthetic phonics programme, Read Write Inc, plays a pivotal role. The scheme is scaffolded to assist children’s progression from Early Years through to Key Stage One, ensuring a solid understanding of phonics. Phonics intervention may continue into Key Stage Two if children do not finish the programme before the end of Year 2.

Children are provided with engaging, well-matched reading books that facilitate successful decoding through, ‘Special Friends’, ‘Fred Talk’ and ‘read the Word’. This approach fosters their confidence in becoming fluent readers. All trained adults in our school are dedicated to supporting children in utilising their phonics knowledge in everyday contexts, enriching their reading experiences for both pleasure and information.

To reinforce their phonics learning at home, children will bring home accurately matched phonetically decodable books and a ‘Book Bag Book’ depending upon their stage of learning. For those children who may be at risk of falling behind, our teachers provide one-to-one tutoring, and we assess children’s phonics knowledge every half term. This enables us to offer the accurate level of support and challenge tailored to each child’s unique needs.

At Willowbank, we continuously support our children in understanding the phonics code with confidence and accuracy, thus preparing them for reading and writing beyond Key Stage One.

Parent Phonics and Reading Workshops

Working together with parents is key to a child’s success. We encourage families to share in the reading journey at home, as this partnership greatly supports progress and confidence. We offer during and after-school workshops and book explorer sessions aimed at equipping parents with an understanding of the systematic synthetic approach to phonics employed at Willowbank. These workshops will provide valuable ideas and strategies for supporting your children as they navigate their early reading experiences. We hope the workshop leaves parents feeling confident in assisting their children with reading at home, possessing the necessary knowledge of phonic sounds and blending skills. Our goal is to help all our children become successful readers.

The Phonics Screening Check

What is the phonics screening check?

In June, Year 1 children will participate in the Phonics Screening Check. It is a statutory requirement assessed against expected outcomes for the end of Year 1. This assessment consists of 40 words that children must blend and read, a process they may refer to as spotting ‘Special Friends’, ‘Fred Talk’, and ‘Read the Word’. Some words will be real, while others may be nonsense words. Throughout their Read Write Inc (RWI) sessions, children will have had numerous opportunities to practise reading similar words. There is an expected pass mark for the phonics check. If children do not achieve this at the end of Year 1, they will have another opportunity in Year 2 with additional support.

Supporting Your Child with Phonics at Home

We understand that some aspects of early reading may present challenges. Encouragement and the joy of engaging with books are vital for your child’s successful phonics application. Parents play a vital role in supporting their child’s reading journey. Here are some practical strategies to help with phonics at home.

1. Encourage your child to identify ‘Special Friends’ (e.g. ck, ph, wh, ae, oi), use ‘Fred Talk’ (sounding out), and ‘Read the Word’ for unfamiliar words instead of guesswork from pictures. Once your child has read an unfamiliar word, you can talk about what it means and help them to follow the story.
2. Dedicate time daily to read with your child and invite other family members to participate and assist your child in blending sounds together throughout words.
3. Look for opportunities for reading across all contexts, such as menus, signs, or timetables, ensuring the application of phonics extends beyond the classroom.
4. Engage in word games like ‘I-spy’ to make learning enjoyable and relevant. Talk about all the words which surround you, from road signs to shopping lists. If children become aware of the uses of reading, they become much more interested in practising what they know.
5. You can model ‘Special Friends, ‘Fred talk’ and ‘Read the Word’ when you are reading with your child. This will further support their blending and segmenting skills and provide more opportunities to hear others using phonics to decode.

For tailored support based on your child’s phonics level, please click on the appropriate

links provided. Should you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to talk with your child’s class teacher.