At Loscoe C of E Primary School and Nursery, we believe that confident spelling begins with strong foundations. Our approach builds upon children's phonics knowledge and develops their understanding of spelling patterns, rules and word structures as they progress through school.

Strong Foundations

Before children can confidently apply more complex spelling rules, they need to secure the essential building blocks of spelling.

A key part of this is being able to read and spell tricky and common exception words accurately. These are words that children encounter frequently in both their reading and writing, so developing automatic recognition and accurate spelling helps children to become increasingly fluent and independent writers.

We regularly assess children's spelling knowledge to identify any gaps. Where children need additional support with foundational skills, including tricky words and previously taught phonics, we provide targeted intervention and additional practice. This ensures that gaps are addressed and children are given the opportunity to revisit, practise and secure important knowledge.

Our Spelling Scheme

As children progress beyond their initial phonics learning, we use the Emile Spelling Scheme to provide a structured and progressive approach to teaching spelling.

The scheme introduces children to spelling rules and patterns in a carefully sequenced way, building upon what they have previously learned. An important part of our approach is spiral learning, where key spelling knowledge is revisited regularly rather than taught once and forgotten.

This gives children repeated opportunities to:

• revisit previously taught spelling patterns and rules;
• practise and consolidate key knowledge;
• make connections between different spelling patterns;
• apply spelling rules to unfamiliar words;
• recognise and correct common spelling errors; and
• transfer accurate spelling into their independent writing.

Applying Spelling in Writing

Spelling is not taught in isolation. Children are encouraged to apply what they have learnt whenever they write across the curriculum.

Through explicit teaching, regular practice, retrieval and opportunities to edit their own work, we aim to help children develop the confidence to make increasingly accurate spelling choices independently.

Where children continue to experience difficulties, teachers use assessment to identify the specific gaps and provide targeted support, including phonics intervention where appropriate.

Our aim is for every child to develop the phonics knowledge, spelling strategies and understanding of words they need to communicate confidently and successfully in writing.