At Riverside Primary School we use a synthetic phonics programme to teach 

reading called 'Read Write Inc' produced by Ruth Miskin. As children

progress and can decode fluently they move onto the Literacy and Language 

scheme which develops children’s comprehension, vocabulary, writing, critical 

thinking and discussion skills and grammar – in a fun and meaningful way.

Read Write Inc Phonics is a method of teaching reading which is centred 

around learning the sounds of the letters (phonics), and then blending them 

together to read words.  The children also learn to break down words into 

individual sounds in order to write them.

How it works

The children are assessed and grouped according to their level.

They work in small groups with a reading teacher.

At the end of each half term the children will be assessed again to check they 

have made progress and will be grouped again.  In addition to the Read Write 

Inc programme the children will also be working on writing skills and 

storytelling in their classes with their own class teacher.

Reading

Using Read Write Inc the children learn to read confidently and fluently so that they can 

put all their energy into understanding what they read.

When using 'Read Write Inc' to read the children will:

Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple 

picture prompts

Learn to read words by blending the sounds together

Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out

Show that they understand the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove it' 

discussion questions.

Writing

Read Write Inc allows the children to spell effortlessly so that they can put 

their energy into working out what they want to write.

When using 'Read Write Inc' to write the children will:

Learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds 

(graphemes)

Learn to write words by sounding them out and then writing the corresponding 

graphemes

Learn to write simple and then increasingly complex sentences

Compose a range of texts using discussion prompts

Compose stories based on picture strips. 

Talking

When using 'Read Write Inc' the children work in pairs to:

Answer questions to practise every activity

Take turns talking to each other

Give positive praise to each other.

Blending

Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the 

Speed Sound sets 
 

(shown further down the page).

Help your child learn to read words by sound-blending e.g. c-a-t = cat

Help children to say the pure sounds, as quickly as they can, and then to 

blend the sounds together to say the whole word.

Set 1 sounds

 Set 2 sounds

Set 3 sounds

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO HELP MY CHILD TO READ?

Read a variety of books (fiction, non-fiction, rhymes etc). 

Discuss the different features of various books. 

Talk about the books and other reading materials that you have shared.

Explain the meaning of new words. 

Most importantly though, show the fun that can be gained by listening to stories and 

reading a range of texts e.g. reading and then following a recipe together

Don't forget you don't have to read just books, cereal packets, shopping lists, road 

signs, web pages, magazines, newspapers etc are useful ways to practise reading.