At Bridport Primary School we aim to develop the full potential of all our pupils as confident, literate readers and writers. If children are to develop as competent readers and writers, it is vitally important that they have a secure understanding of the letter sounds and spelling system of the English language. Phonic skills need to be developed systematically, based on a stage approach.

The principles of Early Reading

At our school we follow the Read Write Inc programme from Foundation Stage, through KS1 and into KS2 if appropriate. The programme focuses on securing word recognition skills, essential for children to decode (read) and encode (spell) words accurately and language comprehension.

The programme is carefully structured into developmental phases. The sessions are delivered to ensure participation and engagement resulting in high-quality phonic work on a daily basis to help practitioners and teachers ensure that by the end of Key Stage 1 children develop fluent word reading skills with good comprehension. They also learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.

Oxford Owl is an excellent website full of tips for parents to help their children with their phonics. Click the links to go to Phonics Made Easy and the Read Write Inc. guide for parents.

This year, Bridport Primary School has continued the ‘Read Write Inc Phonics eBook Library’ subscription. This means that you have access to the books your child is reading in phonics sessions. In school, each storybook is read a few times in order to develop the pace and fluency of their reading, and so, it would be great if you could designate some time at home to continue to practise reading the storybooks to support your child further.

Each week, in addition to the reading book already taken home, your child’s phonics teacher will allocate a storybook to be read. You will be able to access this eBook via the Oxford Owl website (see below) – your child should have received an individual log in (please ask if you need this to be resent). Once you have logged on, the storybook will be available in the ‘homework basket’. At the end of the time available to read the storybook (roughly a week Wednesday – Wednesday), you can leave comments on how your child found it. Please note, the storybooks allocated are a ‘best fit’ to the children’s abilities in each phonics group. If you think your child is finding the eBook a little challenging, please continue to practise reading it as often as possible to support them. If you think the eBook is relatively easy for your child, please continue to read it and focus on their pace and expression – your child will still receive a reading book to take home and this should offer more of a challenge.

In line with our home learning expectations, we ask you that you read with your child at least four times a week in order to best support them on their reading journey. One of these times should be accessing the online eBook as this will reinforce what they are learning in class. Click the link to go to the Oxford Owl website. Please ensure you log in through ‘Oxford Owl for School’ and sign in as a ‘student’.

Below are some useful documents that will help your child with their handwriting script, phonics and spelling. Please talk to your child’s class teacher if you would like more information on Year Group expectations or how you can assist your child with these at home: