Handwriting

We use Nelson Handwriting at Wessex Gardens. Handwriting is taught regularly using this scheme, which ensures children have a legible and neat style. Please have a look at examples of the handwriting style attached and practise with your child often. They might enjoy the Christmas handwriting activities. By Year 1, the National Curriculum states that children should:

• sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly
• begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place
• form capital letters
• form digits 0-9
• understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’ (ie letters that are formed in similar ways) and to practise these

By Year 3, children should:

• use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined
• increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting, [for example, by ensuring that the downstrokes of letters are parallel and equidistant, and that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch]

Spelling

At Wessex Gardens Primary School we use No Nonsense Spelling as our comprehensive guide to teaching spelling. Please look at your child's year group's common exception word lists (tricky words) attached. Ensure that your child can spell these words by the end of the year.

Reading

Please listen to your child read to you daily to support them with developing their reading fluency and expression. Do have a look at these recommended book lists and visit your local library to select books that interest your child: 

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/our-recommendations/great-books-guide/