G K

There are four main purposes to this policy:
 To establish an entitlement for all pupils;
 To establish expectations for teachers of this subject;
 To promote continuity and coherence across the school;
 To state the school’s approaches to this subject in order to promote public, and particularly parents’ and carers’, understanding of the curriculum.
Spelling is an integral part of the writing process. Pupils who spell with ease are able to concentrate on the content of their writing and the making of meaning. While it is important to remember that spelling is not the most important aspect of writing, confidence in spelling often has a profound effect on the writer’s self-image. Accurate spelling implies consideration for the reader and also recognises the deeply embedded notions about correctness which we hold as a society about spelling.
Spelling is taught as part of a planned programme. It is linked to our Letters and
Sounds phonic teaching, and the school also follows the Support for Spelling programme.
Foundation Stage & Key Stage One pupils have a daily session of 20 minutes phonics/spelling.
The teaching of spelling aims to develop pupils as independent spellers who take an active part in their own learning. This is through a multi-sensory approach incorporating the development of fine motor skills, auditory discrimination and visual perception. Pupils are taught the knowledge and skills they need to become independent spellers. Routines and structures are provided to enable pupils to apply what they learn about spelling independently.

Teaching aims to show pupils how to become natural and accurate spellers. The programme approaches this in three ways. Firstly, by using a structured approach as outlined in Letters and Sounds; secondly, by ensuring that pupils learn and practise those words which they most frequently misspell as individuals; thirdly, by increasing their spelling vocabulary by learning how to spell and by using the technical and subject-specific words which occur across the curriculum.
Foundation Stage
The emphasis at this stage is on systematic, multi-sensory, high quality phonics work which is embedded within a rich language experience. The phonics programme used,
Letters and Sounds, is firmly based upon the above principles.
The application of phonics in writing will be offered through shared and guided writing and independent writing opportunities related to Development Matters and Effective characteristics of learners.
Key Stage 1
Letters and Sounds will continue to be taught on a daily basis. Most pupils will have completed the programme (Phase 6) by the end of Year 2. For spelling purposes, the emphasis is on the pupils’ ability to segment words into phonemes and then match the most likely letter or letters to each sound.
In addition, the pupils will continue to learn how to spell a number of high frequency words and common irregular words enabling them to write fluently. They investigate and learn to use common spelling patterns, and frequently used prefixes and inflectional endings in their own writing.
Our aim is for our pupils to become increasingly independent. They are taught how to use a simple dictionary, a range of word banks and their knowledge of word families to help them work out whether they have spelt a word correctly. Towards the end of Year
2 there is an emphasis on developing a range of strategies to remember how words are spelled. An investigative approach is taken to the teaching of spelling, which is supported by the activities contained in the Support for Spelling resources.
All children work in groups matched to their phonic ability, thus allowing those pupils who need more support to work through the programme at their own pace, ensuring consolidation. Where a child has significant Special Educational Needs, an individual

programme will be drawn up as appropriate by the Headteacher and Class teacher in consultation with parents.
Teachers provide a rich and lively learning environment supported by well chosen word resources and interactive displays to enhance pupils’ independence as spellers.
Parents are introduced to the concept of emergent writing in their children’s first term at school during a parent workshop. Children blend letters to make words using their ‘fish’ sounds. Children start to bring formal spellings home from Year One onwards. These relate to both High Frequency Key Words (the most common 100 words that children will meet in their reading) as well as the sounds being focused on in phonics. When children have successfully completed Phase 6 of Letters and Sounds, the spellings brought home are varied.
Parents can support spelling through playing games such as hangman, encouraging their children to spell out words using magnetic letters, helping to make up mnemonics (where each letter is represented by a word – ie SAID – Sally ate iced doughnuts) and encouraging their child to practise their weekly spellings.
Key Stage One pupils have spelling tests on a weekly basis. These results show the class teacher what a child knows confidently, and which sounds they are still finding tricky to apply in their writing. These sounds are then reinforced within the next week’s phonic lessons. Older pupils at Great Kimble School are asked to re-read their work and check against key words lists to ensure they are spelling these words correctly, thus ensuring others can read their writing.
The school policy is that teachers will encourage pupils to correct two to three spellings from a piece of written work in their literacy book; this is done at the back of their book. If the same word appears frequently then that word will be added to the child’s spelling for further work at home.
Agreed by staff
December 2013