The Teaching of Spelling.

Transcription

1 Version Jan 15 Owner Curriculum Adopted Last Reviewed Review 3 Years Cycle Next Jan 18 Review The Teaching of Spelling. There are four main purposes to this policy: To establish an entitlement for all pupils; To establish expectations for teachers of this subject; To promote continuity and coherence across the school; To state the school s approaches to this subject in order to promote public, and particularly parents and carers, understanding of the curriculum. RATIONALE Spelling is an integral part of the writing process. Children need to be able to speak, read and write Standard English fluently and accurately in order to participate in public, cultural and working life. Spelling is an integral part of English, which aids freedom in writing and improves communication skills. Aims To enable children to become confident in their spelling skills and become independent spellers. To enable children to spell a variety of patterns and words accurately To provide children with a range of spelling strategies and an understanding of spelling rules. To reflect the new requirements of National Curriculum September 2014.

2 Strategy for implementation. Entitlement and curriculum provision. Spelling is taught as part of a planned programme, mainly during the discrete phonics or spelling lesson, progression in phonics or the Devon Spelling Pathway which meets the requirements of the National Curriculum. In addition, words such as those on the taught list are taught through subject specific lessons e.g History. In addition handwriting lessons, shared and guided reading and writing sessions afford many opportunities for talking about spelling and revisiting and practising strategies.. The teaching of spelling of subject specific vocabulary occurs in all subjects and opportunities are made in these lessons to reinforce spelling work undertaken in discrete spelling lessons.. Teaching and Learning The teaching of spelling aims to develop pupils as independent spellers who take an active part in their own learning. This is through a multisensory approach incorporating the development of fine motor skills, auditory discrimination and visual perception. Pupils are taught the knowledge and skills that they need in order to become independent spellers. Central to our spelling philosophy is that we value children's attempts and promote independence through the use of 'Have a go' sheets. Spelling accuracy is promoted by following the structured teaching sequence as identified in the National Curriculum 2014 and Devon Spelling pathway. Children should ensure they learn and practise those words they frequently misspell and increase their spelling vocabulary by learning how to spell technical and subject specific words they encounter across the curriculum. Our teaching approaches are; Early Years Foundation Stage In the Foundation Stage, by teaching and practising letter shapes and patterns through games, through making connections between letter sounds used in reading and spelling, and letter names and sounds used in spelling. By following the letters and sounds programme children are taught to match phonemes to graphemes and to blend for reading and to segment for spelling.

3 Key Stage 1 and 2 Through implementing the Letters and Sounds and Jolly Phonics programme for Key Stage 1 By developing children s knowledge of phonemes and their application in spelling By using the Babcock Spelling Pathway from years 1-6 By focusing on spelling 3 times a week using lists and activities suggested in the Spelling Pathway By using the Have A Go sheets in books across the curriculum to encourage the children to attempt unfamiliar words themselves By displaying the current spelling focus on Literacy Working Wall By recording spelling work in individual spelling logs By making clear links between spelling and handwriting By encouraging an interest in words, their meanings and derivations By providing a rich environment for the children to learn in, show and interest in words and language. By encouraging the regular use of dictionaries, rhyming dictionaries, thesauruses and word origin books The Assessment of Spelling. Teachers are encouraged to use formative and summative assessment methods. When marking work teachers are encouraged to use their professionalism in the identification of errors. It is expected however the taught patterns, words etc. will be picked up at an age appropriate level and teachers set a clear and high expectation for the application of known and taught rules. Generally we would expect teachers identify one word in each piece of writing that they deep mark and ask the pupil to either correct the spelling or copy from the teachers corrected version 3 times. Assessments is through; By setting weekly spelling homework which may include spelling words and investigations

4 By testing spelling ability each term to establish individual spelling ages Single Word Spelling Test, using the outcomes of this to inform planning and teaching. Where there are concerns about a child s progress or attainment in spelling a more detailed diagnostics maybe under taken. HOME/SCHOOL COMMUNITY LINKS Parents are encouraged to support their children s spelling and word recognition skills as soon as they enter the school. Weekly phonics and/or spelling lists/activities are also given as homework, in which the parents are readily involved. EQUALITIES & DIVERSITY STATEMENT The staff and Governors of the Topsham School are committed to promoting equal opportunities and diversity. All staff will ensure that all areas of the taught and informal curriculum take account of the rich and varied balance of cultures, faiths, race and nationalities, physical, emotional, gender and economic diversity that exist in the United Kingdom today. LINKS WITH OTHER POLICIES Spelling permeates the whole curriculum therefore it has links with all other curriculum policies. Spelling also has a particular link with the Handwriting and Assessment policies. MONITORING This policy will be monitored and reviewed by the literacy Coordinator. REVIEW This policy will be reviewed on a three yearly cycle by the Teaching & Learning committee for presentation to the full Governing Body for approval.

5 Spelling. Our agreements so far Learning and Teaching 1) We follow the Devon pathway for spelling 2) Spelling is taught 2/3 times a week for 15/20 mins following the pathway. 3) On days when spelling is not taught Key Stage 2 early work will have a spelling focus. 4) FSU and Year 1 teach Phonics daily with a focus on blending for reading and segmenting for spelling. 5) Year 2 teacher teach Phase 6/ spelling pathway. 6) Marking draw attention to key word or pattern taught, highlight the mis spelt part and ask child to have another go, just one or two words per piece. Non negotiable words, high frequency etc write correct spelling at bottom of page and ask pupils to write out correct spelling 3 times, just one or two words per piece maximum. 7) Have a go sheets across the curriculum. All classes have in place their own system for this. Generally ½ ¾ 5/6 classes using the a parallel system. 8) Spelling journals. In all classes Year 1 and 2 the same. Year 3 6 Purple lined books for all spelling and handwriting work. 9) Spelling focus of the week display Key Stage 2. Assessment Termly assessments of spelling using the Single Word Spelling Test. Outcomes of the assessment used to inform teaching. Use of assessment to identify individuals in need of intervention and support.