Oakham has used the National Curriculum, EYFS curriculum and a phonics journey based on a blend of ‘Letters and Sounds’ and ‘Active Learn’ phonics resources and texts.  

The National Curriculum states that pupils should be taught to read fluently, understand extended prose and be encouraged to read for pleasure. Reading is singled out as having extreme importance in the curriculum and is split into two main dimensions: Word Reading & Comprehension (both listening and reading) 

It is essential that, by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education. 

Oakham aims to deliver on pupils’ entitlement through a combination of literacy lessons, guided reading, phonics teaching and shared reading

Early Years

• WellComm Screening at point of entry in Nursery  
• Children sorted into red, amber and green. Red and amber triggers intervention. 
• Children work in listening groups. 
• Progress tracked each term.  
• Full Time Nursery will begin Phase 2 Phonics when appropriate. 
• In reception, progress is assessed at the end of each phonic phase and children are grouped appropriately (Phonics Stages 2-4)
• Children given a reading book on starting reception and these are based on sound assessments.
• Guided reading books for Reception children who can blend and segment from spring
•  In Reception, tricky words are taught through phonics and children progress to focus words when ready.
• Planned writing opportunities taught daily through phonic sessions

Key Stage One

• Phonic lessons to take place daily following school designed progression based around Active Learn Phonics Resources and Letters and Sounds. 
• Children grouped into appropriate phases according to the needs and ability of the children. 
• Sessions last for 25-minutes with a follow on phonics reading for a further 15   minutes. 
•  Years 1 and 2 to complete daily phonics recording sheet to note participation and  attendance. This will be kept in Phonics Folders. 

Oakham phonics is based upon Letters and Sounds but has been revised in October 2021 to incorporate elements of Active Learn and Bug Club. We believe that this revised phonics delivery best delivers our objective of ensuring that phonics reading tightly fits with phonic teaching.

A copy of our phonics progression for Phases 2-5 ca be found in Appendix 2 of this document. A brief summary of progression is listed below: 

Phase 2: s, a, t, p, I, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r, h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss 

Phase 3: j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er 

Phase 4: CVCC words, spelling words with two adjacent consonants 

Phase 5: zh, ph, wh, ay, a-e, eigh, ey, ei, ea, e-e, ie, ey, y, ie, i-e, y, ow, o-e, o, oe, ew, ue, u-e, u, oul, aw, au, al, ir, er, ear, ou, oy, eer, ere, are, ear, c, k, ck, ch, ce, ci, cy, sc, stl, se, ge, g,i g, y, dge, le, mb, kn, gn, wr, tch, t(tion), ss(ion), c(ial), ea, wa, o 

Phase 6
By the beginning of Phase Six, children should know most of the common grapheme– phoneme correspondences (GPCs). They should be able to read hundreds of words, doing this in three ways:
1. Reading the words automatically if they are very familiar.
2. Decoding them quickly and silently because their sounding and blending routine is now well established.
3. Decoding them aloud. Children’s spelling should be phonemically accurate, although it may still be a little unconventional at times. Spelling usually lags behind reading, as it is harder. (During this phase, children become fluent readers and increasingly accurate spellers.

The Oakham 'Reading Spine' 

The children are provided with a rich reading curriculum throughout their journey at Oakham. Our group reading sessions, class novels and independent reading all designed to foster and encourage a love of reading and expose children to a rich and varied diet of stories from many genres, times and cultures.

Class teachers will also use extracts from many other texts and authors as stimuli for writing units as well as others linked to topics in the wider curriculum.

Year 1

To support the transition to KS1, children will read and listen to  a range of works from the following authors:

Oliver Jeffers

Julia Donaldson

Jeanne Willis

Traditional Tales & Fairy Stories

Guided reading book - selection based on reading band

Year 2 

Class authors:

Simon James

Anthony Browne

Roald Dahl

Guided reading book - selection based on reading band

Year 3 

The Firework Maker’s Daughter 

Oscar's Lion

Goosebumps

The Hobbit

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

The Iron Man

The Boy who stole the Pharaoh's Lunch 

Winnie the Pooh

Boy

The House at Pooh Corner

The Legends of King Arthur

The Wind in the Willows

Tales of the Arabian Nights

Year 4 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

A series of Unfortunate Events

Ice Palace

Planet Omar

Charlotte's Web

Ratburger

Class Authors:

Matt Haig

David Walliams

Maz Evans

Year 5 

Beowulf

Animal Farm

Room 13

Goosebumps

Talking Turkeys

Macbeth

Class Authors: 

Michael Morpurgo

Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Jasbinder Bilan

Year 6 

Real Reads Classics Selection

Wonder

The Island at the End of Everything

Xanthe and the Ruby Crown

Class Authors:

Onjali Q Rauf

Matt Goodfellow

Katherine Rundell

Polly Ho-Yen

Christopher Edge

Kiran Millwood Hargarve

Spelling at Oakham 

Our Ethos

We strive to make the teaching of spelling both enjoyable and purposeful. It is our hope that no child will leave school with gaps in their spelling knowledge but instead embark on the next steps along their educational journey full of confidence and ambition. Our aims include:

• embedding knowledge
• developing personal spelling strengths
• stimulating curiosity about word discovery
• promoting responsible application during independent learning
• testing playing a reduced role
• developing vocabulary
• removing fear