A Whole-School Scheme to Spelling for the 2014 National Curriculum
There are lots of different ways to teach children to spell, and teachers up and down the country will be all too familiar with the problems of giving children a list of words every week for a spelling test. There are few things more frustrating when the children get 10/10 in the test each week, but can't replicate that in their written work or generalise words from a spelling pattern they've learnt:
Teacher: You've spelled 'wall' wrong.
Child: We haven't done that spelling yet.
Teacher: No, but you can spell 'ball', 'call' and 'small'.
Child: Yeah, but we haven't done 'wall' yet.
Here's the answer. Well, perhaps. This is the system that works for us, anyway. As with everything on Shakespeare and More, it's free to download, and works best if you have a play around with it and adapt it so it meets the needs of your school.
There are lots of different ways to teach children to spell, and teachers up and down the country will be all too familiar with the problems of giving children a list of words every week for a spelling test. There are few things more frustrating when the children get 10/10 in the test each week, but can't replicate that in their written work or generalise words from a spelling pattern they've learnt:
Teacher: You've spelled 'wall' wrong.
Child: We haven't done that spelling yet.
Teacher: No, but you can spell 'ball', 'call' and 'small'.
Child: Yeah, but we haven't done 'wall' yet.
Here's the answer. Well, perhaps. This is the system that works for us, anyway. As with everything on Shakespeare and More, it's free to download, and works best if you have a play around with it and adapt it so it meets the needs of your school.
Shakespeare and More Spelling Scheme
What does the scheme consist of?
There are 32 lists of words for children to learn. The lists get progressively more challenging, matching the year-on-year content of the 2014 National Curriculum. The scheme works best if schools use the lists flexibly, but the table below shows how the lists align to the demands of different year groups drawn from the 2014 National Curriculum.
Lists 1-6- Year 1
Lists 7-12- Year 2
Lists 13-18- Year 3
Lists 19-24- Year 4
Lists 24-32- Years 5 & 6
The demands for spelling in the 2014 National Curriculum are pretty challenging, and it may take a number of years for children to ‘catch up’ with the programme. Across each year group, the word lists contain a mixture of new words and words previously learnt earlier in the scheme. This should give children the opportunity to revise words they know already, ensuring they don't simply learn them for the test and then forget them.
How should it be used?
Children move through the lists in order, with a new list each half term or when they have mastered the spelling rules/sounds on the list.
Spelling, especially in KS1, is taught through a phonetic approach. You'll probably want to rearrange the order of word lists so they match the phonics scheme of work followed by your school. Later lists are organised by specific spelling rules. In addition, there are common exception words that do not fit with spelling patterns on each list. You might decide that you don't need to give children spelling lists and test in KS1, as phonics teaching takes care of their development in spelling. You might decide you want to so parents can be involved and offer another layer of support. As always, it's up to you to decide what works in your school.
As well as children taking lists home to learn, it's a good idea to teach spelling explicitly. A couple of short, focused sessions tend to work best (if you can squeeze them into your curriculum). It should be noted that apart from the common exception words and statutory spelling words, children are learning the letter string, sound or spelling rule, not the specific word. This will help them to learn to generalise from the words they've learnt. You can find out more about our approach to teaching spelling here.
You'll probably still want to give regular spelling tests (the number of words and frequency depends on the age of the children). Where spellings are built around a particular sound or letter string, children should be given one or two words that are not on the list but fit with the rule or sound to see if there are able to generalise. For example, when learning words with the -ay letter string (and they are given day, play, say, way, stay) the teacher might also test to see if can they also spell may and bay.
In addition to teaching the rule/sound, children will benefit from being taught the meanings of words and how they can be used, supporting the development of their vocabulary. Spelling should also be taught through the teaching of writing.
Where does the scheme start?
The scheme begins at the start of Y1. Before children can begin on the first sheet, they need to be familiar with:
-All letters of the alphabet and the sounds which they most commonly represent
- The consonant digraphs and vowel digraphs, and the sounds which they represent
-The process of segmenting words into sounds before choosing graphemes to represent the sounds
Where does the scheme end?
If children work at the rate of one wordlist per half term they should finish the scheme at the end of term 1 of Year Six. This would give two terms to return to any areas of that still need development before they head off to secondary school.
What does the scheme consist of?
There are 32 lists of words for children to learn. The lists get progressively more challenging, matching the year-on-year content of the 2014 National Curriculum. The scheme works best if schools use the lists flexibly, but the table below shows how the lists align to the demands of different year groups drawn from the 2014 National Curriculum.
Lists 1-6- Year 1
Lists 7-12- Year 2
Lists 13-18- Year 3
Lists 19-24- Year 4
Lists 24-32- Years 5 & 6
The demands for spelling in the 2014 National Curriculum are pretty challenging, and it may take a number of years for children to ‘catch up’ with the programme. Across each year group, the word lists contain a mixture of new words and words previously learnt earlier in the scheme. This should give children the opportunity to revise words they know already, ensuring they don't simply learn them for the test and then forget them.
How should it be used?
Children move through the lists in order, with a new list each half term or when they have mastered the spelling rules/sounds on the list.
Spelling, especially in KS1, is taught through a phonetic approach. You'll probably want to rearrange the order of word lists so they match the phonics scheme of work followed by your school. Later lists are organised by specific spelling rules. In addition, there are common exception words that do not fit with spelling patterns on each list. You might decide that you don't need to give children spelling lists and test in KS1, as phonics teaching takes care of their development in spelling. You might decide you want to so parents can be involved and offer another layer of support. As always, it's up to you to decide what works in your school.
As well as children taking lists home to learn, it's a good idea to teach spelling explicitly. A couple of short, focused sessions tend to work best (if you can squeeze them into your curriculum). It should be noted that apart from the common exception words and statutory spelling words, children are learning the letter string, sound or spelling rule, not the specific word. This will help them to learn to generalise from the words they've learnt. You can find out more about our approach to teaching spelling here.
You'll probably still want to give regular spelling tests (the number of words and frequency depends on the age of the children). Where spellings are built around a particular sound or letter string, children should be given one or two words that are not on the list but fit with the rule or sound to see if there are able to generalise. For example, when learning words with the -ay letter string (and they are given day, play, say, way, stay) the teacher might also test to see if can they also spell may and bay.
In addition to teaching the rule/sound, children will benefit from being taught the meanings of words and how they can be used, supporting the development of their vocabulary. Spelling should also be taught through the teaching of writing.
Where does the scheme start?
The scheme begins at the start of Y1. Before children can begin on the first sheet, they need to be familiar with:
-All letters of the alphabet and the sounds which they most commonly represent
- The consonant digraphs and vowel digraphs, and the sounds which they represent
-The process of segmenting words into sounds before choosing graphemes to represent the sounds
Where does the scheme end?
If children work at the rate of one wordlist per half term they should finish the scheme at the end of term 1 of Year Six. This would give two terms to return to any areas of that still need development before they head off to secondary school.
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Overview of Shakespeare and More Spelling Scheme
A handy guide to the words and rules covered by each stage in the scheme. |
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Shakespeare and More Spelling Scheme
The works: overview sheet, sounds and rules guide, and all 32 spelling lists. |
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Learn From the Masters
Shakespeare and More founder James Clements writes for Teach Primary magazine about using books to teach spelling, grammar and punctuation. |
The Writing Process
Advice for how we can teach all children to write well. |
Assessing Spelling
A simple assessment to find a baseline for where children are in spelling at the moment. |
