Spelling
Once children are ready to move beyond Phonics, Spelling is taught through discrete sessions 3-4 times weekly using ‘Spelling Shed’. This is an important session, as accurate and confident knowledge of spelling provides children with the confidence to experiment with more ambitious vocabulary and to write at longer length. Children are assessed at the start of each year using their year group spellings from the National curriculum and a HIAS spelling assessment to establish specific gaps. Children are assessed constantly, both through weekly spelling assessments, and through their writing, both in their English books and the wider curriculum.
Spelling Shed provides weekly lesson foci and content. Children focus on a specific spelling rule each week, and every half term focuses on a selection of their year group spelling words. The lesson content provides explanations and resources for teachers to use, and also has an online platform for children to access at home in the form of fun games to keep them engaged.
Within their writing, children are encouraged to apply their spelling knowledge with growing independence. During longer pieces of writing, children are guided to underline spelling which they are unsure of in order to return to these as part of their editing process. This reduces cognitive overload and disturbance of the flow of writing. For work which is assessed by the teacher, some spelling misconceptions are picked for the child to fix by providing the child with a choice of their version or the correct one. The child is then provided with a couple of examples of the word with missing letters, to offer both practice and the opportunity to think about the phonetic rule of the word.
Impact
By using quality text drivers, children are exposed to a window of experiences and worlds far beyond what they will know of their own. They will have access to a range of vocabulary and purposes and other knowledge and experiences to draw upon as part of their own writing. Children express their enjoyment at being given purposeful reasons to write, and this also allows them to put what they are doing into a context. The writing process is a constantly evolving process through the child, adults and the texts used to underpin this, and the focus and time provided for editing and improvement is a vital part for the children to have the opportunity to improve and make corrections to their writing. The writing progression documents have been created to show not only progression through the texts selected, but also in the application of skills, particularly in cross-over year groups (3-4, 5-6).
Children are assessed constantly through the journey, both in the preparation and build up parts of the journey to the opportunities to write they are given. Teachers are responsive to texts and are able to create extra writing opportunities where these arise. Children are assessed through using the KPIs on SIMS, and planning is adjusted accordingly to ensure any misconceptions are addressed.
Specific G.P.S elements are assessed as part of the success criteria for the children’s writing, as well as summative PIXL assessments three times in the year (more for Year 2 and 6). These assessments are further used to inform and adjust planning as necessary. Spelling is assessed routinely as part of the children’s writing. For those working significantly below (still requiring phonics input), appropriate spelling patterns are provided for the children to understand the phonetic rules. For those children who are working below in spelling, they are still provided with year-group appropriate words to reduce the risk of further gap growth, and teachers use their written English work to revisit rules which the child is unsure of through effective marking and feedback.
The consistent use of a handwriting programme allows a consistent use of language across the school. This means that guidance for children in correct formation, posture and grip is the same in every class and every year group. This makes the concepts easy for children to understand what they need to do to be successful. The physical development means that all children can develop the core and stability strength required to complete writing tasks successfully, and the kinaesthetic approach is suitable for children with specific SEND requirements.
What children say about Writing and Spelling at The Bay;
“It was fun describing my funny bones skeleton!”
“I love playing the games on Spelling Shed and am getting better.”
“I like it when we write as if we are one of the characters from our class book – we are able to express different emotions.”
Useful Links
Click here to view the Little Wandle website
