At Windsor, we have been teaching reading and spelling using a systematic synthetic phonics program, Sounds Write, for 5 years now. We use this program from Prep to Year 5 and will move it into Year 6 next year. In the upper years (3-6), the focus is really on spelling (encoding) and we might cover more of that in a future edition. For those parents not yet familiar with how we teach reading in the early years at Windsor, I have summarised some key information here.

At Windsor State School, we always follow the evidence from scientific research to ensure our programming and pedagogy is best practice. Therefore, we teach reading using the structured synthetic phonics program, Sounds-Write. Sounds-Write is widely regarded as the gold standard for teaching phonics and we as a school are finding its explicit and structured programming is excellent. Alongside this, we have very specific screening assessment tools that also help us to identify students who may find difficulty with some aspects of learning to read. With an excellent teaching program and early identification of students who require supplementary supports, we are very confident in our ability to help all students learn to read.

Our explicit phonics programming teaches students the letter-sound correspondences required to be able to decode and encode words. Students ‘say the sound and read the word’ when learning to read. They do not guess, memorise words or use picture clues – they read the words.

One of the key components for consolidating this learning and gaining fluency is the use of decodable texts. When these come home, it is important for parents to remember that they are solely for the purpose of practising the ‘code’ that they have been learning. The key to successfully reading a decodable is to be able to read it fluently and without ‘guessing’ any words. Children may be able to read the text without error, but we also need that to occur with fluency (speed, accuracy and with appropriate expression) as this affects comprehension, especially as they move up the grades. They may need to read a text many times before this happens, so please don’t mistake accuracy alone for fluency. These are texts that are expected to be read multiple times to practise; they are not designed to replace literary texts.

As this ‘code’ (this is what we call learning the sound-letter correspondences of the English language) knowledge builds over time, the texts will become more complex and by the second semester of Year 1, most students will begin leaving decodables behind and moving to more year-level, authentic texts that they choose themselves. We encourage a lot of non-fiction texts when this begins as they allow students to build their background knowledge and vocabulary ready for improving comprehension and move into ‘reading to learn’. Non-fiction texts contain information in shorter ‘bursts’ of text that hold a child’s attention and engagement but are also suited to their reading stamina at that age and stage. 

If parents are wanting to better understand the teaching and strategies behind Sounds-Write, John Walker (founder of Sounds-Write) created a free online course for parents during lockdown and it is still freely available. There are two parts to the course and each is 1.5 hours long so it is a maximum 3-hour commitment.  Although it only refers to the initial code (Prep), the key components of the teaching are also applicable to the extended code (Yr 1-2) so it is very relevant to any parents wanting to further support their child/children at home. This is by no means something parents need to do, but may be helpful for those parents of struggling readers in particular.

For more information and to access the course, please click here. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.