Phonics in the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework: What are inspectors looking for?

new ofstead framework

If you’ve already read the previous blog posts in our series to help you prepare for the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework , you’ll know that how well pupils are taught to read will be prioritised as a main inspection activity in Primary schools from September 2019. But what does the Framework specifically say about phonics? We’ve taken a closer look and pulled out five key things that […]

Read more

Reading and Maths in the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework: What primary school teachers need to know

new ofstead framework

As you’re probably already aware, a new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework will come into force in September 2019. You can get an overview of the new Framework in our blog post  ‘The new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework: What’s changed?’ We’ve taken a closer look at the Framework, alongside the new School Inspection Handbook that Ofsted inspectors will be using, and have pulled out […]

Read more

Printing versus Joined Writing

Teaching the formation of letters and how to join remains as important today as it was back in 1958 when Marion Richardson and Dr. Fletcher, in the manual ‘Quick and legible handwriting’ made the following comment: “Basic letter shapes used in print script do not lend themselves to speed and legibility. By making use of […]

Read more

How to focus your guided reading sessions for children who understand what they read but are held back by their word reading skills

To find out more about how to group your class for effective guided reading, see my original post which takes you through using The Simple View of Reading to organise your class into guided reading groups . In a nutshell, children are organized into groups based on their strengths and weaknesses in comprehension and word recognition. This enables you to adapt your teaching style and focus your guided reading session in a more accurate way than […]

Read more

Phonics explained

In 2012 the government introduced an annual phonics check for all children in England in year 1, which supports the synthetic phonics method of teaching reading in schools. You may feel unsure about how to approach helping children learn to read using phonics. In this post we’ll be explaining briefly what phonics is, along with […]

Read more