Early reading and early language development:

As stated in the Early Reading Framework (2021), becoming a fluent reader begins at the earliest stages, before children even encounter a book, through the quality of their parents’ talk and the subsequent development of their vocabulary. We therefore prioritise high quality talk in Early Years and Key Stage 1 through a number of approaches:

• Dialogic reading (or contingent talk) is a form of shared reading that encourages adults to share the reading process with their child. The book is a prompt for discussion and the talk is child-led. The adult helps the child to become the storyteller, acting as the listener, questioner and audience for the child. The adult encourages the child’s participation, providing feedback and adjusting verbal interactions. 
• Talk Boost is a targeted intervention designed to improve listening, narrative and vocabulary skills for target children.Talk Boost provides a structured programme that boosts children’s progress in language and communication by an average of 9 - 18 months after a ten week intervention and is delivered by trained staff. The sessions include activities that cover the key elements of language: Attention and Listening, Vocabulary, Building Sentences, Telling Stories and Conversations. 

Systematic synthetic phonics: Read Write Inc (RWI)

At Milton Hall Primary School and Nursery we follow the RWI phonics programme. RWI is a complete phonics programme with high quality training, assessment, intervention and resources (including decodable books). We train all new members of staff in the RWI approach and provide ongoing training, support for existing teachers and support staff through practice sessions and coaching. We carry out intervention to support pupils to ‘keep up’ with the programme. Children’s early independent reading is exclusively reading fully decodable books, ensuring that children are only asked to read books with sounds that they know.

Read Write Inc., developed by Ruth Miskin, provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching literacy. 

Each Read Write Inc. programme meets the higher expectations of the new curriculum and uses effective assessment to accelerate every child's progress.