When it comes to Early Reading, Gawber Primary School is very successful in ensuring that all children become fluent readers, scoring...

in the Phonics Screening Check in 2022 and 2023. 

Phonics is always prioritized. 

At Gawber, we use Read Write Inc (RWI) - a systematic synthetic phonics programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.  The programme is designed for children aged 4-7 and is a well known and successful programme that ensures all children are given the tools they need to become confident, fluent readers. 

RWI is taught daily in school to children in FS2 and Year 1 and to any children in Year 2 that are yet to finish the programme. Children are assessed regularly and grouped according to their stage of the programme. 

Fred Talk

We use pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's' not 'suh', ect) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily.

At school we use a puppet called Fred who is an expert on sounding out words!  We call it, 'Fred Talk'.  E.g. m-o-p, c-a-t, m-a-n, sh-o-p, b-l-a-ck.

Set 1 Sounds

Set 1 Sounds are taught in the following order together with rhymes to help children form the letters correctly and instantly recognise sounds ready for blending.

Set 2 and 3 Sounds

Children are then taught set 2 sounds-the long vowel phonemes.  When they are very confident with all of set 1 and 2, they are taught set 3. 

Nonsense words (Alien/monster words)

As well as learning to read and blend real words children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading 'Nonsense words'.  These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term.

Decodable Books

• Our decodable reading books follow Read Write Inc phonics programme.
• Regular assessments are carried out to ensure your child's reading books match their existing phonic knowledge.
• Your child's reading book only contains words that your child can read based on their existing phonic knowledge.
• The books are progressive as your child's phonic knowledge develops.
• A Read Write Inc decodable book is introduced to your child in school.
• The book is read 3 times with an adult in school to familiarise your child with the text, practise their decoding skills and reading on sight of tricky words (red words).
• The book is sent home on Monday and is kept at home for a week.
• The child reads the book daily at home with an adult to practise their decoding skills, fluency and reading on sight of tricky words.
• The book is returned the following Monday and a new book is sent home.