As a school we understand that spelling is a skill that must be explicitly taught, not just tested, in order for improvement and retention. Using the correct spellings is an important life skill and regular practice is essential.

In Key Stage One, and where children are working towards retaining spellings within phonics phases 2 - 5, children will be given words containing graphemes and spelling rules based on the learning within their daily phonics lessons that week. They will also be given common exception words outlined as statutory for their year group within English Appendix 2 of the National Curriculum. Due to our rigorous and systematic phonics planning, we have ensured that all statutory spelling rules are covered throughout the year. 

In Key Stage Two, we follow the Rising Stars Spelling Scheme, which covers all spelling rules and common exception words, as outlined in Appendix 2 of the National Curriculum, for each year group. Each test has a spelling focus which is often a spelling rule or group of rules, or a focus on reviewing learning or words from across the curriculum. Teachers use a 'Review, Teach, Practise and Apply' structure to teach spelling rules explicitly and a range of different spelling strategies, such as Mnemonics, to learn common exception and statutory words. 

Children working out of year group will be given personalised spellings that help to close the gap between themselves and their peers, however, they will still be exposed to their year group's programme of study by listening to books, hearing and learning new vocabulary and grammatical structures, and having the chance to talk about these. 

Teachers use every opportunity to review and practise spelling, particularly during modelled writing, and teach children the skills to apply this independently and correct mistakes effectively.

Please see below for resources to support spelling, including tests for Years 1 to 6.