Phonics Plus and Smart Spelling
Building Strong Foundations in
Spelling and Reading
In Foundation, Grade 1, and Grade 2, students learn to spell through the Phonics Plus program, a key component of our daily English block. This program helps children build strong foundational skills in reading, spelling, and writing.
From Years 3 to 6, students at our school learn to spell using the SMART Spelling approach – an evidence-based program widely used in Australian schools. Developed by Michelle Hutchison, SMART Spelling offers a clear and consistent approach to teaching spelling that makes sense to both students and teachers.
Foundation to Year 2 - Phonics Plus
Phonics Plus teaches children the relationship between letters and sounds (known as grapheme-phoneme correspondence). The program follows a clear and structured sequence, covering 36 sets of sounds and spelling patterns. This supports students to:
- Recognise and read sounds and words,
- Spell accurately, and,
- Build reading and writing fluency.
How it's Taught
- Daily Lessons: Phonics Plus is taught every day in the first hour of English in F–2 classrooms.
- Decodable Texts: Students read specially designed books that match the sounds they’re learning. This helps them practise reading with accuracy, pace, and expression.
- Handwriting: Students learn to write both lowercase and uppercase letters in line with the phonics they’re learning, helping develop writing fluency.
- Dictation Practice: Students listen to sentences, then write them down, applying their spelling, handwriting, and grammar skills all at once.
This structured approach provides young learners with the tools they need to become confident readers and writers from the outset of their school journey.
Years 3 to 6 - SMART Spelling
SMART Spelling teaches students to look at the whole word:
- How it looks (spelling patterns),
- How it sounds (syllables and phonics),
- What it means (vocabulary and context), and,
- How it can change (prefixes, suffixes, and grammar).
Each week, students focus on one spelling pattern. They learn a list of words that match that pattern, starting from simple to more complex, while also adding personal words that are important or tricky for them.
How we Teach it
SMART Spelling follows a consistent routine, helping students break down words and really understand how they work:
- Say the word,
- Meaning: put it in context and discuss variations,
- Analyse it by breaking it into syllables and sounds (e.g. graphs, digraphs, trigraphs),
- Remember it by focusing on the parts of the word we need to remember, and,
- Teach it by spelling the word aloud using letter names and clustering.
Personalised Learning and Feedback
Teachers are trained in the SMART Spelling method and use their knowledge to:
- Choose words suited to each student’s level,
- Give targeted feedback during writing lessons,
- Provide practice tasks that build both confidence and understanding, and,
- Regularly assess students to monitor progress.
SMART Spelling helps students become more accurate, confident writers by building their spelling knowledge in a structured, meaningful way.
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