Although we live in an electronic age, children do need to be able to express themselves on paper and we therefore believe that the ability to spell accurately is an essential life skill.
In Reception and Year 1, children are taught spelling through the development of their phonic knowledge. This is taught in daily discrete ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds’ sessions. They also learn the spelling of high frequency and common exception words through teaching in English and within other subject areas where specific vocabulary is necessary as Word Aware sessions.
From Year 2, children are taught spelling regularly through the No Nonsense Spelling scheme and within other subject areas where specific vocabulary is necessary as Word Aware sessions. They are given activities appropriate to their abilities, investigating rules and patterns that will help them to develop strategies for spelling. They are then encouraged to apply these in the spelling of unfamiliar words. Every child also has a Spelling Book and Word Banks in which they have personal lists to support learning.