Spelling Scope and Sequence: What do we expect at Forth Primary School?
Pre-Foundation
Kindergarten
Australian curriculum: English
The Early Years Learning
Framework
Outcome 5: Children are
Effective Communicators
Outcome 5.2
Children engage with a range of texts
and gain meaning from these texts
Outcome 5.3
Children express ideas and make
meaning using a range of media
Outcome 5.4
Children begin to understand how
symbols and pattern systems work
Strategies/Evidence
Marie Clay Observational Survey

Letter recognition

Alphabet recognition

Sounds recognition
Play-based learning activities e.g. taking
into account different learning styles
Regular monitoring/assessment
Accessing resources and activities
across the school based on individual
learning styles
Teacher modelling
Routine based learning
Word walls (topic based/ play
experience-based)
Sound
Joins in rhymes and songs
Hears initial or dominant sounds in
words
Recognises rhyming words aurally
Begins to represent words using the
dominant sounds
Visual
Begins to recognise and name some
letters
Writes own name
Uses letters or symbols to represent
words
Oral, printed, visual, musical, gestural,
spatial, multimodal texts, using big
books to point out sounds and
puntuation
Phonemic awareness
Letter-sound relationships
Sound and letter games
Environmental print
Making marks, experimenting with
letters and words on paper.
Resources
Marie Clay
First Steps
Chris Topfer –
Guided Thinking for
Effective Spelling
Foundation
Sound and letter knowledge
Phonemic awareness - Recognise
rhymes, syllables and sounds
(phonemes) in spoken words
Alphabet knowledge - Recognise the
letters of the alphabet and know
there are lower and upper case
letters
Expressing and developing
ideas
Spelling - Know that spoken sounds
and words can be written down
using letters of the alphabet and
how to write some high-frequency
sight words and known words.
Know how to use onset and rime
to spell words.
Creating texts
Writing - Create short texts to
explore, record and report ideas
and events using familiar words and
beginning writing knowledge
Sound
Develops phonemic awareness
(recognises rhymes, syllables and
sounds in spoken words)
Recognises rhyming words aurally
Gives common sound made by each
letter of the alphabet
Realises that a letter can represent
different sounds (eg ‘c’ in cat; ‘c’ in
circle)
Represents the most dominant
sounds when writing words
Orally segments one syllable words
into onset and rime (eg b-at, s-it)
Visual
Writes some high- frequency words
such as and, the, I, me, my, mum,
dad
Writes own name correctly
Identifies and names the upper and
lower case letters of the alphabet
Builds word families using onset and
rime, for example h-ot, g-ot, n-ot, shot, sp-ot
Checking
Uses word walls and charts to
check some words
Strategies/Evidence
Marie Clay Observational Survey

Letter recognition

Alphabet recognition

Sounds recognition

Basic Spelling Lists

Differentiation

Individual spelling lists

High frequency personal errors

Interest words

Recurrent spelling errors
Other Spelling Lists

Topic related words for units of
work

Subject specific lists

Interest words
Spelling patterns

Alphabet books

Explicit teaching

LSCWCh

Guided writing – 2:1 guided
through the writing process,
using resources such as letter
pattern charts, basic word lists
etc

Word walls displayed (topic based/play
experience-based)
Teacher modelling – alphabet and CVC
words
Oral, printed, visual, musical, gestural,
spatial,
Display Chris Topfer’s 5 spelling strategies
Environmental Print
Sight word cards
Resources
Rona Butler
Marie Clay
Salisbury List
Deb Sukarna
First Steps
Chris Topfer – Guided
Thinking for Effective
Spelling
Australian Curriculum : English
Year One
Sound and letter knowledge
Phonemic awareness - Manipulate sounds in
spoken words including phoneme deletion
and substitution
Alphabet knowledge - Recognise sound–
letter matches including common vowel
and consonant digraphs and consonant
blends
Understand the variability of sound–letter
matches
Expressing and developing ideas
Spelling - Know that regular one-syllable
words are made up of letters and common
letter clusters that correspond to the
sounds heard, and how to use visual
memory to write high-frequency words.
Recognise and know how to use
morphemes in word families for example
‘play’ in ‘played’ and ‘playing.
Creating texts
Writing - Reread own texts and discuss
possible changes to improve meaning,
spelling and punctuation
Sound
Develops phonemic awareness (includes
phoneme deletion and substitution)
Represents many sounds in words
Recognises and uses consonant digraphs:
sh, ch, th, wh
Represents initial consonant blends
Recognises that letters can represent more
than one sound (eg ‘a’ in pat, after, many)
Visual
Writes an increasing number (50) of highfrequency words such as one, about, have
Recognises common letter patterns in
single syllable words eg (b-all)
Meaning
Begins to use suffixes: ed, ing, s
Builds word families from common base
word
Connecting
Uses knowledge of onset and rime to spell
new words (eg m-ake, j-ump)
Checking
Identify words which might be spelt
incorrectly
Uses word walls and charts to check some
words Begins to identify misspelt words
Strategies/Evidence
Ability based groupings

Phases of development from
First Steps

Differentiation
Teacher modelling
Explicit Teaching
Regular monitoring/assessment using
SWST as data
MIOOW 100 words
Accessing resources and activities
across the school based on individual
learning styles
Word walls

MIOOW

Grammar rules

Punctuation

Contractions

Routine based learning
LSCWC/ISL/ Spelling program
including :

generalisations,

specific spelling rules,

syllables,

base words,

word building,

patterns/features

dictionary meanings
Display Chris Topfer’s 5 spelling
strategies
THRASS

graphemes/phonemes
focus

Blends, diagraphs etc.

Using big books and
specific books related to
the sounds being focused
on
Environmental Print
Resources
Clutterbuck
Single Word
Spelling Test
Deb Sukarna
MIOOW 100
words
First Steps
Chris Topfer –
Guided Thinking
for Effective
Spelling
(want to make a
grapheme and
phoneme book)
Year Two
Strategies/Evidence
Resources
Sound and letter knowledge
Alphabet knowledge - Recognise most sound–
letter matches including silent letters,
vowel/consonant digraphs and many less
common sound–letter combinations
Expressing and developing ideas
Spelling - Understand how to use digraphs,
long vowels, blends and silent letters to spell
words, and use morphemes and syllabification
to break up simple words and use visual
memory to write irregular words.
Recognise common prefixes and suffixes and
how they change a word’s meaning.
Creating texts
Writing - Reread and edit text for spelling,
sentence-boundary punctuation and text
structure
Ability based groupings

Based on the different learning
styles

Differentiation
Clutterbuck
Single Word Spelling
Test
First Steps
Chris Topfer – Guided
Thinking for Effective
Spelling
Deb Sukarna
MIOOW
Sound
Represents all sounds in words, including
vowel sounds
Understands that letter names remain
constant but the sounds they represent may
vary
Developing knowledge of vowel digraphs: ar,
ee, oo, ay, oa, ai, er, ea, ur, ir, ow, ou
Represents most initial and final consonant
blends
Visual
Writes an increasing number (150-200) of
high- frequency words
Understands alphabetic order
Recognises that some letters are silent (eg
knife, listen)
Meaning
Begins to use contractions (eg didn’t, can’t)
Begins to recognise and use compound words
Understands the concept of plural forms
Recognises common prefixes (eg un) and
suffixes (eg er to add to a verb to make a
noun; or as a comparative ending)
Connecting
Uses rime analogy to spell new words (eg seat, b-eat)
Checking
Proofreads own writing and attempts to
correct some misspelt words using word wall,
charts, personal list or dictionary
Teacher modelling
Explicit teaching
Regular monitoring/assessment
using SWST as data
MIOOW
Accessing resources and activities
across the school based on individual
learning styles
Word walls

MIOOW

Grammar rules

Punctuation

Contractions

Routine based learning
LSCWC/ISL/ Spelling program
including :

generalisations,

specific spelling rules,

syllables,

base words,

word building,

patterns/features

dictionary meanings
Display Chris Topfer’s 5 spelling
strategies
THRASS

graphemes/phonemes
focus

Blends, diagraphs etc.

Using big books and
specific books related to
the sounds being focused
on
Environmental Print
(want to make a
grapheme and
phoneme book)
Australian curriculum: English
Year Three
Expressing and developing ideas
Spelling - Understand how to use sound–
letter relationships and knowledge of
spelling rules, compound words, prefixes,
suffixes, morphemes and less common
letter combinations, for example ‘tion’.
Recognise high frequency sight words.
Creating texts
Writing - Reread and edit texts for
meaning, appropriate structure,
grammatical choices and punctuation
Sound
Uses consonant digraphs (eg ph, gh, wh)
Uses two and three letter blends (eg br,
str)
Represents all vowel and consonant
sounds in a word, placing vowels in every
syllable
Develops knowledge of silent ‘e’ and how
it influences the sound of vowels
Continues to develop knowledge of
vowel digraphs
Visual
Spells commonly used high- frequency
words
Developing awareness of the use of visual
letter patterns (eg ite, ight), silent letters
and double letters
Meaning
Continues to develop knowledge of
prefixes, suffixes and base words (eg re,
dis, ly)
Begins to use the generalisation for
adding suffixes to single syllable words
Knows about compound words and
contractions
Writes some homophones correctly
Developing knowledge of plurals, past
tense and inflectional endings
Connecting
Uses knowledge of onset and rime to
spell new words (eg f-ound, gr-ound)
Checking
Proofreads own writing and attempts to
correct misspelt words using classroom
resources including digital dictionaries and
spell check
Strategies/Evidence
Display Chris Topfer’s 5 spelling
strategies
Explicit Teaching
Teacher Modelling
Single Word Spelling Test for data and
weekly testing

Similar needs groups –
change weekly

Words of the week

Take lists home

Extension demon words
LSCWCh


Words from children’s
writing
5 columns - practice each
morning
Spelling activities

Related spelling activities
such as ICT programs

Creating PowerPoint about
words

Word Webs

Word Pictures

Alliterations

Cross words

Word finds

Sentences
Word Walls

Topic words

Spelling
rules/generalisations

Grammar rules etc
Clutterbuck

Most common 100 used
words

Demon words for extension
Resources
Clutterbuck
Single Word Spelling
Test
Deb Sukarna/David
Hornsby
Improve
NAPLAN Toolkit
First Steps
Chris Topfer –
Guided Thinking
for Effective
Spelling
Year Four
Expressing and developing
ideas
Spelling - Understand how to use
strategies for spelling words,
including spelling rules,
knowledge of morphemic word
families, spelling generalisations,
and letter combinations including
double letters. Recognise
homophones and know how to
use context to identify correct
spelling.
Creating texts
Writing - Reread and edit
Sound
Identifies syllables in words
Continuing development of
knowledge of vowel patterns: (eg
oy, oi, au, au, ou, ow, etc. )
Visual
Spells high-frequency words and
topic words correctly
Uses visual knowledge of
common letter patterns when
attempting to spell unknown
words
Uses knowledge of silent letters
(eg gn, kn)and double letters
Meaning
Begins to use knowledge of word
meanings within word families (eg
sign/signature, circle/circular)
Use plurals correctly
Uses contractions (eg does not;
doesn’t)
Writes some homophones
correctly (using meaning and
context when spelling words (eg
to, too, two)
Applies generalisations for adding
suffixes
Connecting
Begins to use knowledge of word
parts: prefixes, suffixes and base
words, to get to new words
Checking
Proofreads own writing, making
use of a variety of resources,
including print, live and electronic
Strategies/Evidence
Explicit Teaching
Teacher Modelling
Individual spelling lists from writing
Single Word Spelling Test – use as data and
children use spelling list cards from SWST to
do daily spelling activities
LSCWC/Spelling Program

Spelling rules

Vowels/consonants

Syllables

Dictionary meanings

Sentences

Base words

word families
Investigations

chunking difficult words

looking at words that have the
same sound

looking at spelling choices – why
would you choose a particular
sound as opposed to another one?

Display Chris Topfer’s 5 spelling strategies
Resources
Clutterbuck
Single Word
Spelling Test
Deb Sukarna/David
Hornsby
Improve
NAPLAN Toolkit
First Steps
Chris Topfer –
Guided Thinking
for Effective
Spelling
Australian Curriculum :
English
Year Five
Strategies/Evidence
Resources
Year Six
Language variation and change
Understand that the pronunciation,
spelling and meanings of words have
histories and change over time
Expressing and developing ideas
Spelling - Understand how to use banks of
known words as well as word origins,
prefixes, suffixes and morphemes to learn
and spell new words. Recognise
uncommon plurals, for example ‘foci’.
Creating texts
Writing - Reread and edit
Sound
Breaks words into syllables
Uses sound strategies to solve new words
Visual
Writes a large number of high-frequency
and topic words
Uses visual knowledge of common letter
patterns when attempting to spell
unknown words
Meaning
Applying spelling generalisations for
adding endings
Identifies base words
Adds suffixes to base words (eg ly, ist, er,
or, ment, proof, ive, ship, tion, sion, ion, able,
ible, ful, less, ness)
Uses meaning of prefixes to write words
(eg bi, tri)
Begins to use more difficult homophones
correctly (eg sore/soar, board/bored)
Uses contractions correctly
Begins to use knowledge of word origins
and roots to spell related words
Connecting
Recognises when a word doesn’t look
right and is able to generate alternative
spellings
Uses a range of spelling strategies to
recall and attempt to spell new words
Checking
Proofreads own writing, making use of a
variety of resources, including print, live
and electronic
Display Chris Topfer’s 5 spelling strategies

Spelling strategy cards
displayed in each classroom for
continuity
Single Word
Spelling Test
David
Hornsby/Deb
Sukarna
Improve
NAPLAN
Toolkit
First Steps
Chris Topfer –
Guided
Thinking for
Effective
Spelling
Expressing and developing ideas
Spelling- Understand how to use banks of
known words, word origins, base words,
suffixes and prefixes, morphemes, spelling
patterns and generalisations to learn and
spell new words, for example technical
words and words adopted from other
languages.
Creating texts
Writing - Reread and edit
Explicit Teaching
Teacher Modelling
Single Word Spelling Test for data and
weekly testing

Similar needs groups – change
weekly

Words of the week

Extension demon words
LSCWCh


Words from children’s writing
5 columns - practice each
morning
Spelling activities

Related spelling activities such
as ICT programs

Creating PowerPoint about
words

Word Webs

Word Pictures

Alliterations

Cross words

Word finds

Sentences
Word Walls

Topic words

Spelling rules/generalisations

Grammar rules etc
Clutterbuck

Most common 100 used words
Demon words for extension
Spelling strategy cards displayed in each
classroom for continuity
Environmental Print
Sound
Uses syllabification as a spelling strategy
Visual
Spells high-frequency words fluently and
with accuracy
Accurately spells a number of words with
uncommon spelling patterns
Meaning
Develops word families (eg experiment,
experimented, experimentation)
Uses meaning strategies to solve
questions about new words
Applies a variety of spelling
generalisations
Understands the structure of words,
including prefix, suffix, word derivatives
and compound words and can utilise
them in spelling new words
Uses contractions and homophones
correctly
Uses superlatives and comparatives (eg
good, better, best)
Becoming increasingly familiar with word
origins
Connecting
Recognises when a word doesn’t look
right and is able to generate alternative
spellings
Is aware of the patterns or irregularities
of English spelling
Uses a range of spelling strategies to
recall and attempt to spell new words
Checking
Proofreads own writing, making use of a
variety of resources, including print, live
and electronic
Strategies/Evidence
Display Chris Topfer’s 5 spelling
strategies

Spelling strategy cards
displayed in each classroom
for continuity
Explicit Teaching
Teacher Modelling
Single Word Spelling Test for data and
weekly testing

Similar needs groups –
change weekly

Words of the week

Extension demon words

Generalisations
Individual Spelling Rules Book

Words from children’s
writing

CVC, CVCC, CCVC, CCVCC

Grammar rules

Punctuation

Vocabulary extension - word
lists such as transitional
words, paragraph prompts,
200 most common words,
homonyms, homophones

Levels relating to SWST
Spelling tasks

Grammar – name the word

Word Webs – identify the
pattern

Prefix,Suffix – identify or add

Sentence – underline word
and use, focus on
punctuation
Group Spelling Investigations

E.g. how do I spell
consonant? – let’s look at
that word together.
Environmental Print
Resources
First Steps
Chris Topfer –
Guided Thinking
for Effective
Spelling
Single Word
Spelling Test
Deb
Sukarna/David
Hornsby
Spelling rules
book
Improve
NAPLAN Toolkit