Spelling

During Year 2, pupils progress through Phase 6 phonics and into our Whiteoak Spelling Programme. At the Whiteoak Academies, Spelling is taught in all classes from Years 2 to 6 for at least 50 minutes per week. Spelling lessons take several forms, including longer investigations and short burst sessions. These focus on building pupils phonological awareness from Reception and Key Stage One, while also exploring the morphology and etymology of words under study. Children are taught to become more word-conscious and our focus in this area is on spelling by reason rather than learning to spell by rote. It is hoped that with spaced retrieval practice and a greater understanding of the patterns under study, our pupils will be able to remember and apply their spelling knowledge in independent writing more successfully than ever before. This progressive programme ensures full coverage of the National Curriculum spelling objectives.

Handwriting

Please click here for our Handwriting policy.

At The Whiteoak Academies we are very proud of our pupil’s handwriting and take particular care in our cursive handwriting style. We use Letter-join’s on-line handwriting resource and Lesson Planners as the basis of our handwriting scheme, ensuring coverage of all of the requirements of the 2014 National Curriculum.

Handwriting is a basic skill that influences the quality of children’s work across our Whiteoak curriculum. By the end of Key Stage 2 all pupils should have the ability to produce fluent, legible and, eventually, speedy joined-up handwriting, and to understand the different forms of handwriting used for different purposes.

Our intention is to make handwriting an automatic process that does not interfere with creative and mental thinking.