RWI Phonics

[Picklebob123]

Son is in year 1, read write inc he is bringing home yellow band, is this good, bad? His report says he's below expected so need a better understanding of levels.

At our school expectations is yellow by end of reception (lilac, pink, red, yellow) and by end of year 1 aim is for orange (light blue, green then orange).

So yes yellow is a bit below expectations but every kid is different, you should ask teachers based on his ability what is an achievable target for end of year 1

Is it definitely read write inc? I think yellow would be slightly ahead of expected levels at this point in year one?

My daughter is in year 1 and on yellow. I understood from parents' evening that she's doing well but don't really know where they are 'meant' to be. But what I would say is that there is huge variation at this age, and not to worry too much. As long as she's progressing it doesn't really matter what level she's on. My eldest really struggling with reading stamina and then sometime in year 2 in all clicked and suddenly she was independently reading chapter books.

I work with RWI in y1 and our yellows are our top group, but they are all due to be moved up next half term anyway.

I think there’s a difference between the story sets and the book bands. Yellow book band is end of reception but yellow story set is end of year one. What sort of titles do the books have?

Titles are: sam needs feeding
What can baby do
Lost
No way.

Hes on some non fiction ones now: a sweetcorn salad.

Hes been on this yellow for 1 year now (so since reception).

His report said he's on target but below expected.

Ah ok, those are the book bag ones and they’re about end of reception. If he’s been on them for a year he must be bored out of his mind with them, there aren’t that many. How’s his reading of other stuff at home?

Oh if he's not bored of them I definately am lol. We've had some books 3 times.

He reads them really well and quick. He occasionally dosnt read the word and puts in his own word or like today we had the word garlic and he said it was girls.

I'd be really cross with the school if he's had the same books for a year! Requires a conversation with the teacher.

I hate RWI!

Works for some but some children get stuck and never move up or move up slowly. The books are awful too, so contrived I'm surprised any child wants to read 🙄.

Sorry rant over

I hate RWI too!

Hi! Hopefully it's ok to jump on this thread and ask a question.
It appears my dc hasn't move up a level with his group. He is now in a different group and is reading the same books he read a few weeks ago - first book of the set; he was up to the 5th one in the same set before half term.

He reads very nicely at home, never struggles, so I was surprised he was left behind and separated from his original group.

Does anybody know how exactly are they assessed?

If it's RWI, the levels aren't just based on reading but writing too. It doesn't matter how good they are at reading, if they haven't met the writing criteria for their current level, they don't move. My DD2 was held back on some levels despite being an advanced reader for her age because her writing skills just hadn't developed enough yet for her to pass those aspects (she was stuck on orange in particular for ages despite comfortably reading and comprehending books such as The Worst Witch at home). At the upper levels of RWI, DCs have to be able to read at a particular speed too (eg 70 words per minute), which can hold progression back for some. My friend had a DD who was a good reader but took her time. She had to spend quite a bit of time at home with DD working on pace to get her finally moved up.
You should be able to Google the criteria for the different levels (I found them in the past when my DCs were still on the scheme, but can't find them easily this evening). More simply, a quick word at drop off with the teacher should also give you the answer to why he isn't ready to move yet.
It is also worth noting that the book they send home should be comfortably at their level/even a bit below and not a challenge, so you don't know if he is comfortably managing the trickier stuff in school with his friends who were moved up.
How is his comprehension? That is the other area that they're commonly held back on.

You can Google the age expected colours bands. I checked them recently for my twins who are in year 1. Off the top of my head DD is on orange which is expected for Y1 Feb, DS is on blue which is two stages ahead (think it said Jul Y1) which would make yellow end of Reception maybe start of Y1 but I really wouldn't worry at this stage. They can stay on one band for ages and then fly through the next one and catch up. It can also make a difference when they were born, September born kids are likely to be ahead of summer born kids at this stage.
My son who is 14 really struggled with reading, it wasn't RWI when he was in primary but he would definitely have been on reception level books throughout Year 1 but he could read by the time he was mid juniors. If the school are concerned they will tell you and they should be doing interventions so he can catch up. At the end of Y1 they should have a phonics check as well and this will flag up any issues.

I think Yellow is after Orange, just before Blue I.e. more likely Year 1, than end of Reception.

poplarstreet.org.uk/media/1101/expectations-rwi.pdf

Thank you so much @SkankingWombat

To be honest,i dont know. My daughter,who is autistic,is grey band. She never told me her friend’s bands.