Phonics

Welcome to our guide to phonics at Dene House Primary School. As a parent, understanding how your child learns to read is crucial for supporting their educational journey. Here's a comprehensive overview of phonics and how we implement it in our school.

What is Phonics?

Phonics is a method of teaching children to read and write by helping them understand the relationship between sounds and letters 

It works by breaking down written language into its component sounds (phonemes) and teaching children how these sounds correspond to written letters or groups of letters (graphemes). This systematic approach enables children to decode unfamiliar words and build a strong foundation for reading and writing.

The Theory Behind Phonics

Phonics treats written language as a code that children need to crack. By understanding that words are made up of individual sounds, and learning which letters represent these sounds, children gain the tools to read any word they encounter 

For example, when children learn the sounds for 't', 'p', 'a', and 's', they can begin building simple words like "tap," "pat," and "sat."

Our Approach: Read Write Inc

At Dene House Primary School, we use Read Write Inc (RWI), the UK's leading systematic synthetic phonics programme 

Developed by Ruth Miskin, this comprehensive literacy programme ensures all children learn to read fluently and at speed, enabling them to focus on developing comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling skills.

Key Principles

Our RWI programme is built on five core principles:

  • Purpose: Every activity has a clear objective shared with the children

  • Participation: Every child participates throughout the lesson

  • Praise: Children are praised for effort and learning, not just ability

  • Pace: Teaching is delivered at an effective pace

  • Passion: Teachers demonstrate enthusiasm to engage children emotionally

Learning Progression

Children progress through a structured sequence of sounds and books, carefully matched to their developing abilities. The programme begins with learning 44 sounds and their corresponding letters/letter groups, supported by memorable picture prompts 

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Book Colour Bands

Our reading books are colour-coded to match children's progressive skill levels:

  1. Early Stages (Reception):

    • Red Ditty books (1-10)

    • Green books (1-10)

    • Purple books (1-10)

  2. Transition Stage (Reception/Year One):

    • Pink books (1-10)

  3. Year One:

    • Orange books (1-12)

    • Yellow books (1-10)

  4. Year One/Two:

    • Blue books (1-10)

    • Grey books (1-13)

Thoughts

Above shows how children typically progress through our reading scheme. While most children follow this sequence, please note that we use a 'stage not age' approach meaning your child will be placed in the group that best matches their current reading ability, regardless of their age.

Special Words in RWI

Within our programme, children encounter two types of words:

  • Green Words: These are phonetically regular words that children can sound out using their learned phonics skills

  • Red Words: These are tricky words that don't follow usual phonetic patterns ("You can't Fred a red"). Children learn these by sight.

How You Can Support Your Child

Here are ways you can reinforce your child's phonics learning at home:

  1. Practice reading their colour-banded books regularly

  2. Listen to them read their target texts

  3. Ask comprehension questions about what they've read

  4. Make reading enjoyable by discussing the stories together

  5. Attend any phonics workshops or meetings offered by the school

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