Ages 5-7 (KS1)

Phonics

Writing

Maths

Spag (Spelling, punctuation and Grammar)

Reading

Phonics

By the time children leave KS1, the goal is for them to move from learning to read to reading to learn.

We will revisit the phonics scheme the children use in school:

This looks like:

Review: Quickly flashing grapheme (letters) cards to secure automatic recall of previously learned sounds.
Teach: Introducing a new grapheme-phoneme correspondence (GPC) (e.g., teaching that the sound /igh/ can be spelled ie as in pie).
Practise: Blending the new sound to read words and segmenting it to spell words.
Apply: Reading or writing a complete sentence containing the new sound.
Advanced Code: Children learn that one sound can be written in multiple ways (e.g., the sound /ee/ can be spelled ee, ea, e-e, or y) and that one grapheme can make different sounds (e.g., the i in fin the i in find).
In most schools, In June of Year 1, children take a statutory assessment consisting of 40 words. It features 20 real words and 20 “pseudo-words” (nonsense words or “alien words,” like trom or shrep). Nonsense words are used strictly to test whether a child can purely decode using phonics, rather than relying on visual memory. We can support with this.
Morphology and Suffixes: Once the main phonetic code is secure, the focus shifts heavily to spelling rules. Children learn how to add suffixes (like -ing, -ed, -er, -est, -ful, -less) to root words.
Bridge to Spelling Programs: When your child is ready, they will transition away from discrete phonics lessons into structured spelling and grammar (SPaG) lessons.

We use a range of texts to ensure books in KS1 match your child’s their exact phonetic knowledge.

Book Type	How it Works	Purpose
Fully Decodable Books	Contains only the sounds the child has been taught so far, plus a few explicitly taught “tricky words” (words that can’t be decoded easily, like said or the).	Builds reading confidence and prevents children from guessing words based on pictures.
Sharing Books	A book chosen from the library by the child to be read to them by an adult.	Nurtures a love for reading, develops vocabulary, and trains listening comprehension.

We also focus on phonics when doing other activities.

“Phonics Eyes” in Other Subjects: Tutors will point out phonetic patterns during History, Science, or Geography (e.g., “Look at the word ‘digestion’—it has that ‘tion’ ending we practiced in phonics!”).
Dictation: Children regularly practice spelling through dictated sentences, helping them transfer their phonetic knowledge from isolated words into continuous writing.