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Irk Valley Community School

Irk Valley Community School

‘Welcome to our valley. We are proud to grow here together’

Spelling

We have spelling lessons every day that cover the spelling rules set out in the National Curriculum.

 

We learn a new spelling rule every Tuesday. The spellings they are learning will be sent home in the children's spelling book after they are introduced on Tuesdays. We then practise spelling words that fit this rule in class on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and then we have a spelling test on Mondays after having had the weekend to practise them at home.

 

Parents can support their children to learn these spellings by using techniques below.

 

Look, Cover, Say Write Check

 

Look: first look at the whole word carefully and if there is one part of the word that is difficult, look at that part in more detail.

Say: say the word as you look at it, using different ways of pronouncing it if that will make it more memorable.

Cover: cover the word.

Write: write the word from memory, saying the word as you do so.

Check: Have you got it right? If yes, try writing it again and again! If not, start again – look, say, cover, write, check.

 

Quick Write

 

Check the child can spell the word correctly. When they can, set a timer and see how many times the child can write the word accurately in a set amount of time e.g. 1 minute.

 

Picture Words

 

Help your child to write the word in big lettering and then decorate it with pictures that help to represent the meaning of the word. E.g. if the word is 'climb', the child should write it in big letters and then turn the tall letters into ladders, draw a stick man climbing up onto the silent 'b'. Concentrating on trickier parts of the spelling will help the child to remember them. 

 

Pyramid Writing

 

The child should start by writing one word on the first line, then adding a letter each time on the line below to create a pyramid effect. E.g.

 

s

s h

s h o

s h o u

s h o u l

s h o u l d

 

If you have any questions about your child's spellings, please speak to their class teacher.