St Helen’s Church of England Primary School – Spellings  

From Year 1, children will be given 10 spellings every single week to learn. In Year 1 children will be set spellings based on the phonics they have been learning throughout the week. Towards the end of Year 1 and in Year 2 ‘harder to read and spell words’ will also be given (2 per week) as part of the 10 spellings. KS2 have 2 topic/year group words to learn, 2 words from a previous year group and 6 words based on a spelling rule/pattern. In all year groups children are taught the spelling pattern/phonetic sound during school as well as given time to practice their spellings on Spelling Shed. Every child has their spellings set on Spelling Shed weekly and their log ins are in the back of their reading record books so that they can access this at home. If your child is struggling with their spellings, please do keep encouraging them and celebrate the small wins. It is not about getting 10 out of 10 every week, as long as your child is trying their best and growing in confidence each week, this is the most important thing.  

 
Reading with your child 4 times per week, as per the school policy, will also help them with their spellings as some children are more visual learners and will be able to visualise words that they have read in their head to then write them down. As a school, across all year groups we have noticed a dip in home reading which is having an effect on the progress of your child’s learning in school. Please do set aside the time to hear your child read 4 times per week – even if it is just 2 pages a night – it does not need to be the entire book! 

Below are a range of strategies to make spellings more engaging and fun for your child to learn. 

Thank you for your continuous support, 

Miss N Scanlon  
English Lead and Year 2 Teacher 

Spelling Strategies 

Use Spelling Shed edshed.com  

This is a brilliant website that your child has access to via their own log in which is in their reading record book. It allows the children to practice their spellings by playing a variety of games and recognising the spelling patterns.  

Look Cover Write Check  
Write your child’s spellings out in a list. Children look at each spelling, cover it up with another piece of paper or their hand, have a go at writing it out from memory and then check their answer. If children get it wrong they can then practise writing it out whilst looking at the word.  

Scribble Spellings 
Children use colouring pencils or pens to write out their spellings across a piece of paper. They can write their spellings diagonal, horizontal, vertical etc all around the page repeating this until their page is full.  

Speed Spellings 
How many times can your child write one of their spellings in 60 seconds? 
You can change the amount of time to suit you and your child. Focus on a different few of their spellings words each day or maybe all of them for 10 minutes a day.  

Rainbow Spellings 
Children copy out their spellings using coloured pens or pencils – changing the colour they use for each letter. 

Pyramid/Step Spellings 
Children write out their spellings one letter at a time, slowly building up their word.  
e.g. silent  
s 
si 
sil 
sile 
silen 
silent   

Spot the Mistake  
Write out your child’s spellings giving them one option that is spelt correctly and one that is incorrect. Ask them to circle or tick the correct spelling – they get to be the teacher! KS1 could just have 2 options to pick from for each spelling and KS2 could be challenged more with a variety of options.  
E.g. neccesarily, necessarily or necessariley