Stage 1-3 Phonics

Initially, in Primary 1, children learn two single phonemes per week. Once children move onto digraphs, children will learn one sound per week. Children are taught with one main teaching lesson per week, reinforced through daily activities. The teacher introduces the new sound via a story or song, then demonstrates how to write the letter and then focus on word building using magnetic letters. Children are taught to work with a partner on their magnetic boards, following the say, make, break, blend, read write protocol. The children do this both with the teacher, as a class and with a partner. This is then practised throughout the week, to help children to build confidence in saying, reading and writing their new sound.

Stage 1-3 Spelling

Spelling within Stage 1-3 focuses on the teaching of common words. Common words are the words that are most commonly used in the English language, particularly when it comes to reading. Children have one main Spelling lesson per week, which is reinforced through daily learning. Throughout the week, children practise with each other using dictation and "caller, writer". This is when children dictate their spelling words or dictation sentences to a partner and peer-assess together. To practise trickier words, children use Spelling Strategies in order to identify strategies that help them to remember their spelling words.

Stage 4-5 Spelling & Phonics

In Stage 4 and 5, Spelling and Phonics are taught together. Each spelling block lasts a total of four weeks:

• Week 1 - Phonemes and their representations

• Week 2 - Further review of phones and their representations

• Week 3 - Common Words

• Week 4 - Spelling Rule

The first two weeks of each block focuses on the different representations of the phoneme sound. For example, the sound 'ay' can be representated by ai, ay, ea, a-e. Children follow a 4-day programme, which includes a phoneme story, diacritical marking, partner assessment and active spelling activities. An example of diacritical marking is shown in the image to the right.

Stage 6-7 Spelling & Phonics

In Stage 6-7 the programme focuses on word building. Over a period of two weeks, children work together with the teacher to study the use of affixes and root words, in order to deepen their understanding of words. Children are also taugth homophones and confusions and work together with their peers and teachers to find strategies to help them to distinguish between different homophones. Similar to Stage 4-5 children also learn common words and in the final week of the 4-week block, look at a different spelling rule.

• Week 1 - Affixes

• Week 2 - Homophones and Confusions

• Week 3 - Common Words

• Week 4 - Spelling Rule