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Spelling
Early Years (EYFS) – Phonics & Sound Awareness
Key Focus
Spelling at this stage is about hearing, recognising, and experimenting with sounds rather than accuracy.
Key Strategies
-Develop phonological awareness:
-Rhyming, clapping syllables, initial sounds
-Encourage “have-a-go” writing (phonetic attempts are correct for this stage)
-Teach Phase 1–2 phonics (letters and sounds)
-Use oral blending and segmenting
-Link sounds to meaningful experiences (names, labels, play)
-Practice blending and segmenting
-Use ‘phoneme fingers’
-Play sound-based games like ‘What sound does this start with?’
Useful Websites & Resources
Phonics Play-Interactive games for sound recognition and early spelling
Little Wandle Resources- support with sounds and letter forms, blending and tricky words
Key Stage 1 (KS1) – Phonics-Based Spelling
Key Focus
Segmenting words into sounds
Learning common exception words
Applying phonics in writing
Key Strategies
-Teach spelling through phonics phases (2–5)
-Practice segmenting (breaking words into sounds)
-Introduce common exception words (e.g. “said”, “the”)
-Use look–say–cover–write–check
-Encourage spelling in context, not just lists
-Use dictation sentences to apply skills
Useful Websites & Resources
Ready Steady Spell Strategies- See videos and support at the bottom of the page
Ready Steady Spell How to Practice at Home- Videos to support home learning of words
Phonics Play-Interactive games for sound recognition and early spelling
Little Wandle Resources- support with sounds and letter forms, blending and tricky words
Teach Your Monster to Read-Supports phonics and early spelling through play
Oxford Owl- Spelling lists, games, guidance and common exception words
Topmarks-Interactive spelling games and activities
Key Stage 2 (KS2) – Rules, Patterns & Independence
Key Focus
Understanding spelling rules and patterns
Learning morphology and etymology (prefixes, suffixes, roots)
Improving accuracy and independence
Key Strategies
-Teach spelling rules explicitly (e.g. -tion, -sion endings)
-Explore word families and root words
-Teach prefixes and suffixes (un-, re-, -ful, -less)
-Encourage use of dictionaries and thesauruses
-Focus on editing and proofreading skills
-Investigate common spelling errors
-Look, Say, Cover, Write and Check
Useful Websites & Resources
Ready Steady Spell Strategies-See videos and support at the bottom of the page
Ready Steady Spell How to Practice at Home- Videos to support home learning of words
BBC Teach-Grammar and spelling rule videos
Grammarsaurus-Spelling rule resources and activities
spelling at home activity guidance.pdf
