Approach to Spelling

At Blackpool, the aim of spelling teaching is to help pupils spell accurately and confidently so that spelling becomes automatic over time. Our spelling programmes support children by teaching them how spoken words are made up of individual sounds, known as phonemes. Pupils are taught to listen carefully to words and break them into these smaller sounds, a process called segmenting. Once children can identify the phonemes in a spoken word, they are shown how to write the correct graphemes to represent each sound.

From the start of Reception until the end of Year 2, spelling is taught primarily through phonics for the majority of children. Pupils are encouraged to say the target word clearly before breaking it down into the correct phonemes. They then use their knowledge of grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs) to choose the correct graphemes to spell each sound accurately.

Alongside this phonics teaching, children are also taught common words that contain unusual or untaught GPCs. These are known as common exception words, sometimes referred to as tricky words. Learning these words helps pupils to spell frequently used words accurately, even when they do not follow the usual phonics rules.

Orthography, morphology and etymology

Throughout primary school, pupils continue to use their phonics knowledge to support accurate spelling. However, one of the main challenges children face is that a single phoneme can often be spelled in different ways using a range of graphemes. For example, the long vowel sound /ā/ can be written as ay in day, a-e in make, ai in snail, a in apron, aigh in straight, eigh in weight, ei in rein, ea in break and é in café. Some of these spellings are very common, while others appear less frequently.

The National Curriculum emphasises the importance of teaching both grapheme–phoneme correspondences and developing pupils’ wider understanding so they can choose the correct spelling for each sound. This is supported by children learning letter pattern conventions, understanding how word meanings are built, and being exposed to a wide range of words through reading. 

Orthography

Once pupils begin to read words quickly and confidently, they start to learn which letter patterns are used in English spelling. For example, they learn that ck is not used at the start of words to make the k sound. Understanding these spelling patterns helps children choose the correct spellings more easily, which is an important step in becoming confident and accurate spellers.

Morphology

Morphology is about understanding the parts of words that carry meaning. For example, the ending –ed often shows that something happened in the past, even though it can sound different in words like busted, snored and kicked. Some words may sound similar, such as horrid, but they are not spelled with –ed because they are not linked to the past.

Teaching children about these word parts helps them to spell more accurately. For example, pupils may break a word like reformed into the beginning re–, the main word form and the ending –ed. By using both their phonics knowledge and their understanding of word parts, children are more likely to spell words correctly and with confidence.

Etymology

Learning about where words come from can also help children with spelling,  especially when it is linked to understanding word parts and meanings. This study of word origins, called etymology, can support children’s vocabulary and spelling. However, because it involves some complex ideas about history and language, it is usually more helpful for older pupils. For younger children, a stronger focus is placed on phonics, spelling patterns and word parts, which are more appropriate for their stage of learning.