Our Reading and Phonics subject leader is Mrs K Crouch

What is Read, Write, Inc?

At St George’s we follow the Read, Write, Inc programme which was developed by Ruth Miskin. Read Write Inc Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.

Our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children all take part in 15 minute speed sound sessions from 10.10-10.25am. All children are assessed every 6 weeks to ensure they are working within the correct group to match their phonic knowledge. Children continue to push through the different sound level groups until they reach the end of the Read, Write, Inc programme.

Set 1 Sounds

Children begin by learning their Set 1 and 2 sounds which are displayed on a simple speed sound chart. Children learn to say the sound, read the sound and write the sound. The Set 1 sounds are drawn in the shape of a picture for example:

•   ‘s’ is in the shape of a snake

•   ‘d’ is in the shape of a dinosaur

•   ‘a’ is in the shape of an apple

Fred Talk

Once they have learnt the first 5 Set 1 sounds m, a, s, d, t children can begin to read and write words containing these sounds. Your child is introduced to a toy frog called Fred. Fred can only say the sounds in a word and needs your child to help him read the word. So, when you hear your child say ‘Fred Talk’, you’ll know this means sounding out the word for example Fred Talk 'm-a-t' and then read the word 'mat'. 

Fred Fingers

Your child will follow a similar technique when learning to spell words. We break down each word into sounds. We ask children to show us how many sounds are in a word by holding up the correct amount of fingers for example ‘shop’ is broken down into 3 sounds ‘sh-o-p’.  We then ask the children to pinch the sounds and then write the word. So, when you hear your child say ‘Fred Fingers’, you’ll know this means spelling a word.

Set 2 and 3 Sounds

The Set 2 and 3 sounds each have a picture and phrase to help your child remember the sound. For example:

• the sound ‘ay’ has the phrase ‘May I play?’ with a picture

of children playing together

• the sound ‘ee’ has the phrase ‘What can you see?’ with

a picture of two boys in a tree

When your child moves onto the Set 3 sounds they will be learning to read some of the same sounds but with alternative spellings for example the sound 'ow' can also be spelt as 'o-e', 'oa' and 'o'. These will be taught using a complex speeds sound chart.   

Reading Books

Every child in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will bring home one Read, Write, Inc book at a time. These books match your child’s phonic level. We encourage three reads of the same book to build confidence and fluency. 

Reading Rewards

We issue one sticker on your child's bookmark for every three reads, over three days (three parent / teacher comments). Once your child completes their first bookmark they will receive their bronze reading award certificate. Staff will listen to all children read once a week.