Compton C.E. Primary School

 At Compton C of E Primary, we are determined that every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities.

Phonics is a top priority in our school because we believe that phonics is the key to early reading and writing.  We use the Read, Write, Inc (RWI) phonics scheme as we believe it provides the foundations of learning to do this. 

Through RWI phonics children learn a simple alphabetic code followed by a more complex code. All reading books progress cumulatively, matched to the sound’s children are learning and already know. This is so that, early on, they experience success and gain confidence that they are readers

At Compton C of E Primary in a phonics session you will see children:

• That are happy, confident, motivated and focused in sessions.
• Grouped homogeneously, according to their progress in reading, targeting their learning at their point of need.
• Continuously revisiting their prior learning to ensure that ‘practice makes permanent’.
• We as a school recognise our brains are hardwired to thrive on repetition the scheme helps to commit learning to long tem memory.

• Decoding  letter-sound correspondences quickly and effortlessly, using their phonic knowledge and skills.
• Reading common exception words on sight.
• Understand what they read.
• Continuously working on reading aloud with fluency and expression.
• Empowered to be self-motivated and aspire to take ownership of their reading.
• The complex speed sound chart used in the daily teaching of phonics is also in every KS2 and referred to in English sessions to ensure continuity throughout the school.
• The children take home have a ‘bookbag’ book. These books are uniquely matched to the existing Read Write Inc. Phonics Storybooks to reinforce children's learning of phonics at the appropriate level helping them to make even faster progress in reading. All Book Bag Books include notes for parents and carers on how to help their child at home with phonics. In addition to this they also have a book they chose from the class or school library to help instill a love of reading.
• For those children who are not making the expected level of progress in phonics will have 1:1 or small group bespoke interventions. With RWI one-to-one tutoring for some of our slowest progress readers in YR to Y4, we strive to  ensure that no child gets left behind.
• The high priority we place on phonics is evident in the time and staff we invest in it, for example phonics time is always protected and is given a high level staff deployment and support. We also have continuous commitment to training and tweaking practice, allowing our provision continually to improve and keep fidelity to the scheme

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• Pupils are learning to decode and encode quickly and successfully thereby providing a firm foundation for further learning and apply their skills to the whole curriculum.
• Daily assessments and fluid groupings allow us to target children at the point of need, helping to close the gap.
• Our half termly assessments and rigorous tracking of this informs us of the rate of progress of individuals.