Read write inc.

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Any teachers out there who can explain how read write inc works once you get past the basic phonics groups/books please?

At end of year 1 DD was doing amazingly with her reading and was on Oxford book band Gold and reading mostly short chapter books. School changed onto read write inc scheme at start of year 2. DD was put straight onto blue level as they said she didn’t need to be in a phonics group & is still on it 8 months later. No-one listens to her read at school, the children sit in pairs reading through text together then answering questions.

She brings home 1 reading book a week but these are usually picture books which she reads in about 10 minutes flat & has no interest in repeating. In year 1 she was reading chapter books which were much more challenging so this feels a huge step backwards? I am becoming concerned at the apparent lack of progress but can’t seem to get a straight answer out of school as to how they assess her reading ability or if she is progressing. All they tell me is it a ‘ground breaking’ new method of teaching children to read & that Oxford reading scheme is old fashioned.

A quick Google tells me that gold Oxford Level is roughly equivalent to grey level on read write inc, so does this mean she has been put on the wrong level? Would you expect year 2 to be on grey level by the end of spring term? Is there something I am missing? What happens after year 2 - do they revert back to Oxford?

Year 2 teacher here. Grey is the highest level in RWI and it comes after Blue. At my school most children started Year 2 on Blue but very quickly progressed to Grey and then moved on from the scheme. I don’t have many children still using RWI at this stage of the year. Perhaps as the school has only just adopted RWI they’re taking it slow but it does seem a little strange to me. Was she assessed as age expected at the end of Y1?
Also, when children partner read the teacher listens too! I walk around the class making sure I hear everyone at least once.

She was assessed as above expected for reading at the end of year 1 & teacher said she is on track for the same again this year, which is why I can’t understand why she is still being given picture books or why she is still on the same level (which is essentially lower than she .was on last year).

The teacher supervises one of the phonics groups so readers are left to get on with their work in pairs. Staff shortages (Covid) means there has been no-one to supervise them & it’s a mixed year group class so teacher focuses on year 1.

The children will have been assessed in a specific way before being given a book. Blue and grey level books are based on the speed/fluency of reading and elements of expression etc.

I teach lots of children who have good decoding skills but they are still on blue because they don't quite yet have the speed for grey books.

Teacher here whose school has also just started Read, Write Inc. In a nut shell, the government took a lot of phonics schemes off the accredited list and Read, Write Inc is one of the ones that made the list. A lot of schools are having to change their schemes because of this.

In terms of books and groups, it takes a long time for the whole scheme to become embedded and children to be assessed properly as we have to assess every child in the school. We keep being told the first year is the hardest until it’s running smoothly through the school. Your child should always have access to free reading/reading for pleasure though. RWI teaches the phonics and the books are matched to this but don’t feel like you can’t encourage your child to read other books at home, bring home different books from the school library etc. Definitely speak to the teacher about the set up with her group and see if there is a longer term plan for your child’s group and raise your concerns. Every group should have a RWI trained teacher/TA teaching their group and not be left unsupervised.

Hope that helps! Obviously I have no idea how your child’s school is set up but, for us, there are the RWI sessions but then reading for pleasure in the afternoons where children have access to a wider variety of books, teachers/TAs listen to children read etc.

Doesn’t sound quite right to me tbh OP. A greater depth reader should be further than blue by this stage. And I’ve never heard of unsupervised RWI lessons. You say the teacher is with the ‘phonics group’ but blue books are still phonics. All RWI lessons follow a similar pattern, if the teacher isn’t doing the ‘phonics’ bit before the books, they’re not teaching it properly. Definitely keep asking questions (politely so they don’t see you as ‘that’ parent) to find out more.

Thanks for the replies. By chance, I spoke to a parent who is involved with the RWI scheme in our trust & turns out I have got completely the wrong end of the stick.

The books that come home have a blue sticker on them so after looking at the charts on Google I (wrongly) assumed this meant DD was on blue level.

Turns out this is just a coloured sticker our school use to identify all books for use by the children in the reading group, once they have completed the phonics scheme, not blue level books itself. DD is allowed to choose any book from this selection (essentially free reading), which makes much more sense in view of her reading ability. Why school didn’t explain it like that in the first place I don’t know.

I still think the books are a lot easier than the ones she brought home last year but perhaps that is just down to what DD is choosing. . I will of course be polite if I raise this with her teacher.

@Noimaginationforaun @VashtaNerada the head has acknowledged lack of supervision of the reading group is a problem but it is a small school which is short staffed and has been hit hard by Covid absences this year so there’s not a lot anyone can do until those issues are resolved. I’m trying to be understanding but ask yourself if you would be happy with this situation for your own child for the best part of a school year. Hopefully next term will be better.

My dd is in year 1 and has finished the readwrite.inc program. Is yr 2 not a bit late to start it?
The top group in yr 1 was on grey book then DD says they stopped doing readwrite.inc

Hi. Is anyone still active on this thread? Does anyone have any book scheme recommendations for after children have finished the grey books? I’m looking to get some additional books for my son but don’t know what to go for x

If they're assessed as completely off the scheme then you don't really need a follow on scheme. Our children then choose their own books from the school library.