Despite a greater focus on spelling in schools, some pupils still struggle to meet the expected standard in writing because of gaps in their spelling knowledge. The sticking point initially seems to be retention and application of their current year group expectations. However, upon digging deeper, it is often apparent that many children do not have the firm foundations of spelling content from previous year groups on which to build.
The 2024 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS) paper for Y6 once again had a heavy focus on words from the Y3/4 programme of study, thus reinforcing the idea that prior learning needs to be revisited. There are few words that rely solely on one KS2 spelling pattern. In fact, only 5/20 (25%) words tested relied solely upon Y5/6 spelling objectives. For example, the word frequently requires that children be taught the Y5/6 spelling pattern relating to words ending ent/ant or ence/ance and also understand how to add the suffix ly which is reviewed in Y3/4. However, if children have gaps in spelling knowledge pertaining to the Y2 programme of study, then even tracking back to Y3/4 may not be enough. For example, although the mark scheme refers to the Y3/4 prefix and suffix knowledge for the word replacing, children will also need to know about the ‘soft c’ from Y2. As the KS1 spelling programme of study forms the bedrock of spelling in KS2, it is wise to allow time to revisit that foundational learning as much as possible during the first term of each year. For a full analysis of the 2024 spelling paper, please see the attached document:
Building connections for long-term memory
The English language is rich, complex and at times seemingly unpredictable – especially when it comes to spelling. With so much content to be learned between Y1 and Y6, is it any wonder that some children might struggle to retain that wealth of knowledge? The burden seems particularly heavy for Y6 pupils if they are expected to recall the myriad spelling patterns they have ever been taught.
However, we can all think of children who just seem to know how to spell a word after first exposure to it - they even seem able to spell words they have never met before. Are such children blessed with a phenomenal memory for individual words or have they have actually got a very efficient scheme for sorting, grouping and storing words in their long-term memory?
The latter is undoubtedly true. Confident spellers are (even unconsciously) creating an orthographical schema in their minds: new learning is assimilated and stored within the appropriate section. Conversely, I often meet children who do not seem to see any analogies between words, or patterns that appear across them, but instead, view each word as a new and unique entity. Unlike working memory, long-term memory has limitless capacity, but recall is easier if there’s a system in place rather than abject chaos.
With thousands of words to assimilate and remember, all children benefit from being taught the most efficient way to organise their spelling knowledge ready for access ‘on demand’. If a child is supported to remember the pattern or convention pertaining to a subset of their spelling knowledge, they have fewer facts to remember than if they are trying to remember each word individually. Initially, frequent revisiting of that pattern is essential to build this into the long-term memory and facilitate recall but over time, this learning becomes embedded and can be called upon whenever needed.
In order to support children with this knowledge organisation, it is imperative that spelling lessons are not simply given over to practising sets of words, as is often the case. Instead, time must be prioritised to teach the patterns, conventions and rules that govern English spelling, so that children can apply this knowledge to new words.
Securing foundational learning
In phonics teaching, once an original GPC (grapheme phoneme correspondence) has been learned for the 44 sounds in the English language, children are taught alternative ways to represent these sounds in spelling. New learning should build on prior learning, and connections to existing knowledge should be supported by reminding children of what they already know. For example, children have learnt ‘ee’ for feel but now learn that some words are spelt with ‘ea’ like cream. Attention should be drawn to patterns and analogies so that children can best predict which version to use. For example, ea often follows an r or t or precedes an m e.g. scream, dream, team or tease. This would have been useful recall for children spelling the word increase in this year’s GPS paper in Y6.
Connection building should not stop with KS1 phonics. At a glance, the Y5/6 spelling list seems to be a random collection of unconnected words. They could be grouped according to theme, or grouped broadly into spelling patterns such as ‘words containing silent letters’, or simply given to children in batches of ten or so words at a time, for them to practise and learn. But, more usefully, could they be linked to prior learning and added to a child’s internalised spelling schema?
Let’s take the first word on the list: accommodation. If you give children this word to learn, they may well remember it for a test on Friday. If you teach children a mnemonic for this such as ‘there is room for two c’s and two m’s in accommodation’ then they may well be able to recall the correct spelling of this word when they need it. But how often will they need it? Will the mnemonic be forgotten or muddled by the time the word is next employed? If however, you teach children that a consonant is generally doubled if it appears immediately after a short vowel (such as the ‘short a’ and first o in accommodation) then a pupil will not only know how to spell this word, but over twenty more that use this convention in the Y5/6 list alone, as well as hundreds of others that they use in their day to day writing.
Conventions and connections
The ‘doubling after a short vowel’ convention is a handy ‘trick’ to have up your sleeve. It’s also one that many primary pupils seem oblivious to, as I tend to see lack of doubling (and sometimes doubling where it is not required) as a common spelling issue across key stage 2. The words affected range from two syllable words ending in y (such as happy) or in le (such as middle) to those that change with added suffixes (such as dropped or swimming) and all the way through to multi-syllabic words (such as disappeared or opportunity). When questioned, many children are unable to articulate the ‘rule’ of doubling and yet this is something that is taught in reception (less, puff, ill) and Y1 (puppy/ jelly vs baby/ lady) and then again in Y2 (where you need to be able to decide whether to double up consonants in words such as jungle or puddle, jumping or skipping). It stands to reason that regular revisiting of this convention would consolidate prior knowledge and give children a much firmer foundation on which to add the Year 5/6 statutory words that follow.
Closing learning gaps
Clearly, whether to double a consonant or not is an essential piece of knowledge and that is why these conventions are introduced in KS1. The same must be said of spelling statements pertaining to the various le endings or the addition of suffixes. However, many spelling schemes seem to ignore (or at best give scant notice to) the very first statement in each national curriculum spelling appendix, which clearly states that ‘children should revise work done in previous years’. At the start of the Y3/4 programme of study for example, in relation to revision of work from years 1 and 2, it advises: ‘Pay special attention to the rules for adding suffixes’.
If you have a child in Y6 who is still spelling hopeful with a double l or families with a y, then the chances are that they have forgotten all about the Y2 programme of study from four years ago. Hence my initial point about tracking back to build on prior learning and providing opportunities for spaced recall of that learning. Indeed, for some children, the Y2 programme of study may have eluded them altogether. Many of the suffixes such as –ment, -less or –ness are requirements for children working at the greater depth standard, so there is a good chance that some children may have been working on earlier spelling priorities or trying to secure early phonics at the time, and have never really been taught these conventions.
ESSENTIALSPELLING
Unlike most spelling schemes, HFL Education’s ESSENTIALSPELLING programme doesn’t just focus on age related expectations, assuming prior teaching has been retained for good. Objectives from previous year groups are continually revisited and woven into each year group so that children can build on prior learning.
A systematic shoring up of the foundations of spelling knowledge, aided by strategies to secure retention will help children with gaps in their spelling. The first step is the identification of the gaps to enable tracking back to prior learning. ESSENTIALSPELLING is designed to show teachers how the spelling statements link and build, thus aiding planning and adaptive teaching.
If you want to know more about how to close gaps in phonics and spelling do join my spelling workshop at the upcoming Primary English Conference, Powerful Pedagogy: Say it, Read it, Write it, on Thursday 6th February 2025.
Michelle Nicholson
