A summary of how Reading and Phonics is taught at
London Colney Primary School
English in Key Stage 1 and 2 are planned with reference to the National
Curriculum and The EYFS Curriculum and Development matters statements. It is
supplemented with guidance from Hertfordshire County.
Reading
Daily sessions of Guided Reading take place in Key stage 1 and 2 and begin in
Reception when children have reached an appropriate level. The guided reading
lessons are run in a carousel style session so that each group will have an
opportunity to take place in a Guided reading session with the teacher. Other
examples of work that take place in this session include phonics/spelling work,
individual reading, book reviews and reading comprehension. Reading objectives
are also taught through English lessons.
Pupils are given opportunities to:
. Make choices about their own reading material and explain these to others;
. Access a range of genres, including poetry, for different reasons;
. Use a range of resources including ICT/Multimedia for research purposes;
. Read topic related material to support learning across the curriculum;
. Discuss their responses to text in pairs, individual, group and whole class
settings;
. Have time dedicated to reading for pleasure;
. Use the skills of inference and deduction to ask and answer challenging
questions relating to text and information sources;
. Acquire and develop the phonological skills needed for reading;
. Be heard to read regularly by a skilled adult who can provide feedback about
how individual children can develop their skills;
. Respond to texts in a variety of creative and imaginative ways (through art,
poetry, writing, orally, through music, dance, etc);
. Hear stimulating texts read aloud by confident and enthusiastic readers.
KS1 and Foundation Stage Spelling and Phonics Provision
Our spelling strategy follows the guidelines set out in Letters and Sounds and is
primarily delivered through daily phonics and supported during English and other
areas of the curriculum. Spelling strategies are constantly modeled by staff and
dictionary skills are encouraged throughout the year in year 2. The National
Curriculum is followed to teach the specific spelling based objectives for each
year group.
Our pupils are learning Spellings in the following way.
 Teaching the 44 phonemes.
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Developing an understanding of diagraphs and tri-graphs.
Teaching the children the alternative ways of making a given phoneme eg.
ay ai a-e eigh.
Teaching strategies for choosing the best bet eg. oi is generally in the
middle of a word whereas oy at the end.
Teaching the use of and using phoneme frames to chunk words into
phonemes.
Teaching children to apply their knowledge of other words e.g. If you know
all you can use that knowledge to spell s-m –all or s-m –all –e-s-t.
They are taught to spell the common exception words and days of the
week. Children are taught to add prefixes and suffixes.
They are encouraged to apply their knowledge of spelling by:
 Focusing on correct pronunciation of a word to hear all the phonemes.
 Trying to spell words in their writing books and developing the confidence
to see if it looks right.
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Using phoneme frames as an aid to spelling.
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Positive encouragement for using ‘wow’ words spelt phonetically eg.
inormus, this would be further supported with the correct spelling above.
High frequency words (HFW) are learnt by:
 Introducing ‘red’/ ‘tricky’ words that cannot be sounded out eg. woz /was –
these are words that have to be learnt. Supported with HFW games; beat
the teacher, HFW snap. Talking through each word to find the ‘tricky’ part
e.g. The ai in said.
 Our pupils have weekly HFW or Phonics based work to practice to read
and spell at home.
 Teaching HFW in phonics as outlined in Letters and Sounds.
 Key vocabulary is on display in the classroom.
When pupils reach phase 6 they broaden and deepen their understanding
of spelling patterns from the National Curriculum.
Pupils continue to be supported in the following ways:
 Whiteboards are available for our pupils to practice their spelling
knowledge and to `Have a go`.
 Key words and topic words are displayed in the classroom.
 Phonics support posters are displayed and phonics mats are available to
support children.
 Key words and a focused selection of other words are corrected in our
pupils writing, this will include targeting high frequency words that
individual pupils should know and words that have been taught using rules
from spelling lessons.
 These words are underlined in orange in our pupils’ books, together with a
`sp` marking in the margin. Children then have their feedback time to
practice writing the word.
KS2 Spelling Provision
Year 3 to 4
By KS2 our pupils are expected to be more independent when applying their
phonics knowledge to their spelling. Pupils have daily spelling sessions and
weekly tests take place. They are supported in their spelling in the following
ways:
Our Pupils are learning Spellings in the Following way.
 For homework each week High Freq Words are given to learn at home.
 Spelling patterns are practiced in lessons.
 Key words and a focused selection of other words are corrected in our
pupils writing, this will include targeting high frequency words that
individual pupils should know and words that have been taught using rules
from spelling lessons.
 These words are underlined in orange in our pupils’ books, together with a
`sp` marking in the margin. Children then have their feedback time to
practice writing the word. Using Look, Say, Cover, Write and Check
method.
 High Frequency word lists and Syllable Grids are available in the
classroom.
 Dictionaries are available in all classrooms.
 Topic and HFW words are displayed in the classroom.
Year 5 to 6
By the end of KS2 our pupils are expected to have a high degree of confidence in
using phonics and key word knowledge to spell with increasing independence.
Pupils continue to learn spelling rules from the National Curriculum and Herts
Assessment Criteria, where lessons focus on pupil investigation skills. Pupils’
spelling continues to be supported in the following ways:
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New spelling rules are introduced in spelling sessions and spellings are
sent home weekly as part of homework.
Pupils practice spelling patterns and rules through investigation lessons.
Pupils are assessed at the end of the week on the new rule.
Key words and a focused selection of other words are corrected in our
pupils writing, this will include targeting high frequency words that
individual pupils should know and words that have been taught using rules
from spelling lessons.
These words are underlined in orange in our pupils’ books, together with a
`sp` marking in the margin. Children then have their feedback time to
practice writing the word.
High Frequency word lists, phonic and syllable grids are available in the
classroom.
Topic and HFW words are displayed in the classroom.
Dictionaries are available in all classrooms.
By Year 6 pupils will focus on more complex multi-syllabic words.
General Provision
 All classes have age appropriate dictionaries which pupils are encouraged
to use from an early age to promote independent learning.
 High frequency and topic words are displayed in all classrooms to support
pupils’ writing.
 Spelling in published work is expected to be correct in upper KS2. An
effort to improve spelling when publishing work is expected also in lower
KS2 and KS1.
 When publishing their writing using ICT, pupils are encouraged to use the
spell check function.