SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar)

As well as developing children’s composition, it is also important that children are confident and skilled with the transcription element to writing. 

In Reception,as part of their Phonics sessions, children  have books closely matched to their level and begin to use their phonetic sounds to spell words using the story books as inspiration. As the year progresses, children are taught to orally compose sentences related to the stories, where they also master correct pencil grip and letter formation. Children are given opportunities throughout the day to apply their writing skills in areas of the curriculum and continuous provision. They learn that writing is a part of life and an essential skill for communication. Pupils in Year one continue with their daily phonics lessons learning to say and write sounds, building these into sentences inspired by the storybooks. They practice their phonetic spelling and 'Red word' spellings both through Phonics lessons and other areas of the Wider Curriculum.

During Year 2, children are taught spelling patterns and rhythms through the use of  Read Write Inc Comprehension and Spelling. Children continue to hold a sentence where they develop their letter formation, spelling and punctuation.  Children are taught to spell common words they have been reading.  They learn how to spell words containing high frequency graphemes (green words).  Each module teaches children to spell a focus sound e.g. ee.  Children use dots and dashes to match the speech sounds to graphemes in each word.  Children practice spelling red words in each module. Red words are common words that contain a tricky spelling.  In grammar lessons, children are explicitly taught: noun phrases, verbs in the past and present tense, adverbs, punctuation, conjunctions and sentence types.  

From Year 2 – Year 6 RWI Spelling is used.  It teaches spelling cumulatively and systematically with deliberate, focused practice.  It builds upon the teaching strategies and spelling activities from Read Write Inc. Phonics and RWI Comprehension.  It makes spelling fun through the use of aliens from an exciting online spelling planet that introduces spelling rules and concepts.  It provides plenty of writing practice with a clear record of progress.  Children learn the routines and behaviours necessary for each activity, and practise these until they use them automatically. This allows them to focus on what matters most – learning to spell.  The programme’s core activities teach:

• alternative spellings of vowels
• alternative spellings of consonants
• homophones
• the impact of adding prefixes and suffixes to root words
• how to spell plural nouns
• ‘silent’ letters
• unusual letter strings
• word families.

It includes all the spelling requirements of the English National Curriculum Years 2 to 6, and also revises spelling taught in Year 1.

From Years 2 – 6, children are taught the punctuation, sentence types and words classes linked to the national curriculum.