Phonics and Early Reading at St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School
At St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School, we are passionate about ensuring that every child becomes a confident, fluent, and enthusiastic reader. We know that reading is the foundation for all learning, and that strong reading skills open the door to lifelong success - both academically and personally.
As the Department for Education highlights:
“Phonics is a body of knowledge that is necessary for pupils to learn to read and spell — at whatever age.”
(Department for Education, 2023)
To give our children the best possible start in their reading journey, we follow the Read Write Inc. (RWI) phonics programme - a structured, research-based approach to teaching synthetic phonics and early reading. This programme enables us to deliver systematic, consistent, and inclusive phonics teaching, ensuring that all children make progress, regardless of their starting point.
From the moment they begin in Reception, children are immersed in a daily programme of phonics teaching that helps them decode words, develop fluency, and build comprehension skills. We make sure that lessons are lively, engaging, and well-matched to each child’s stage of learning.
Our approach is designed to:
-
Lay strong foundations in reading and writing from the earliest stage
-
Build confidence and a love of books in all children
-
Identify and support any child who may need extra help to keep up
-
Enable children to become independent, skilled readers ready to access the full curriculum
By the end of Key Stage 1, we aim for our children not only to be reading fluently, but also to be enjoying books and talking about them with enthusiasm. Our consistent phonics provision leads to strong outcomes in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check and, more importantly, helps every child to see themselves as a successful reader.
To find out more about how we deliver phonics at St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School, please explore the sections on Intent, Implementation, and Impact.