Spellings
Learning to spell accurately is a fundamental skill for developing confident and competent writers. Spelling is taught in the following ways.
Reception and Key Stage 1
- Teaching of phonics and sounds in Reception and Key Stage 1. For more information, please see our Phonics Page.
Reception, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
- Learning common spelling patterns
- Learning common prefixes and suffixes to words
- Learning how to spell high frequency words
- Learning about the etymology and morphology of language
High frequency words are taught through the 'No Nonsense Spellings' scheme, along with the teaching of spelling rules and patterns. High frequency words are then practised and applied in school and children are given a manageable number of these words to learn. The practising of high frequency words has the most impact when this is done regularly and for short periods of time, so we place emphasis on parents supporting their children’s learning by practising with their children.
We feel It it important that children only learn a few of the spellings at a time to ensure that it is manageable. At Year 6 children are given between 6 - 8 spellings to learn per week.
We believe the teaching of spellings goes hand-in-hand with learning vocabulary. Teachers introduce new words and rules to children and help to expand vocabulary by carrying out activities such as creating 'word webs' and 'concept maps' in order to teach children about the history and origins of the English language so that children can begin to develop a growing understanding of language and how it is structured - this is crucial in ensuring our children are able to work out word meaning when faced with unfamiliar language and in developing a 'bank' of vocabulary for their reading, writing and critical thinking skills.
We teach key words and subject specific vocabulary across all areas of the curriculum to support our children in understanding key concepts within each subject area, as well as supporting their English skill development. We believe that this will better enable our children to make connections within the wider world.
Spellings Strategies
To help your child learn about prefixes, suffixes roots and the etymology (history and origins) of words, use the website below:
