Helping Your Child Learn to Read at St Anne Line Infant School and Nursery

At St Anne Line, we want every child to become a fluent, confident reader who enjoys reading. Reading opens the door to many exciting worlds and helps children become independent, lifelong learners.

We support this through:

• Read Write Inc. (RWI): a phonics-based programme taught in school

• Reading to your child daily: at home and in school (please see QR codes below to access Virtual Classrooms at home)

• Access to a variety of books: both in school and at home (click on the Oxford Owl eBook Library link below and use your child's username and password in their reading records) 

 

What is Read Write Inc. (RWI)?

RWI is a structured reading programme that helps children learn to read quickly and confidently. It focuses on phonics – learning the sounds in words – and also supports spelling, vocabulary and comprehension.

RWI was created by Ruth Miskin. You can find more information through the website link below:

How We Teach RWI

Children are grouped by ability in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and assessed regularly to make sure they are learning at the right level. Here’s what RWI looks like across the school:

Nursery

• Short sessions introducing letter sounds.

Reception

• Learning to read and write sounds as a whole class until October half-term

• Blending sounds to read simple words

• Beginning to read storybooks matched to their level

• 4 x weekly 45-minute lessons after half-term in ability groups

Year 1 and Above

• 4 x weekly 45-minute lessons

• Learning more complex sounds

• Moving to reading comprehensions once reading is fluent

What Children Learn

Reading

• 44 sounds and matching letters or groups of letters

• Blending sounds using Fred Talk (e.g. c-a-t → cat)

• Reading storybooks and non-fiction that match their level

• Building understanding by answering simple questions

Writing

• Forming letters using fun phrases

• Spelling words by sounding them out

• Building sentences by saying them out loud first

Speaking

• Working in pairs to:

  • Take turns reading and speaking

  • Share answers and ideas

  • Use new and ambitious words

Our Approach

RWI is built around five key principles:

1. Purpose – Every lesson has a clear goal.

2. Participation – All children are involved in every activity.

3. Praise – We celebrate effort and progress.

4. Pace – Lessons are fast-moving and focused.

5. Passion – Teachers are enthusiastic and bring lessons to life.

Fred Talk

To help children blend sounds into words, we use a puppet called Fred who “speaks in sounds.” For example:

• m-o-p → mop

• sh-o-p → shop

• b-l-a-ck → black

This technique is called Fred Talk and helps children hear and blend sounds easily.