Teaching and learning » Literacy
The school has adopted a teaching method called Read Write Inc. developed by Ruth Miskin and published by Oxford University Press to teach literacy. This is a programme based on synthetic phonics which teaches children how to sound out letters before blending them together to make words.
“Read Write Inc is a dynamic scheme which really excites the children in their learning. Lessons are full of fun, and children always learn best when they are having fun”Kelly Elson, Head of Pre-Prep
The learning starts in the Early Years department, where the children are taught the phonic sounds of the letters and how to form the letters correctly.
On entering Pre-Prep all children are assessed in literacy and are then placed in groups across the year groups from Reception to Year 2 according to their individual learning needs and irrespective of age. There are six groups of approximately 10 children, they all have their literacy lessons at the same time and they move through from revisiting the phonic sounds and formation to blending the sounds until they form words. We have found this method of teaching, and this structure of groups has been incredibly successful and children are learning much more quickly and with far less difficulty than with other teaching methods.
To support this phonics programme there are a lot of resources, including over 75 story books which as the child becomes more advanced also match that progress and start to incorporate story writing and comprehension activities, and the children even get to a stage where they can correct text and to précis.