Southlands School uses a combination of Ruth Miskins' Read Write Inc. (RWI) model in secondary and Decoders from Twinkl in primary. Both are an organised and systematic approach to phonics that emphasises on teaching pupils to understand words correctly and develop excellent reading abilities.

These methods involve introducing pupils to phonemes (the smallest sounds in language) in a carefully sequenced manner, beginning with simple, easily blendable sounds and progressively proceeding to more complicated patterns.

When pupils first arrive at Southlands School, phonics trained staff will identify them for a phonics assessment. Staff will then review the pupils accessing phonics and give 1:1 or small group learning as needed.

We acknowledge that certain pupils with ASD and associated disorders struggle with repetition, which is why at Southlands, our entire staff understands of our phonics schemes and have a fundamental understanding of them thanks to our onboarding training.

Staff who work closely with pupils accessing phonics receive RWI training and have half-term meetings with our phonics lead, but all staff are free to seek assistance wherever they believe it is required.