Each year in June, all eligible Year 1 pupils participate in the phonics screening check and some Year 2 pupils will resit it if they did not pass when they were in Year 1. If children are absent during this week, then they will complete the check during variation week (the week after). What Is the Phonics Screening Check? The phonics screening …
Is your child in Year 1? If they are, they are probably going to be participating in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in June. But what is it? How can you support your child? Here are five things you need to know and five ways you can help your child. Before we get into it, we are going to be using some phonics jargon in this post, so we’ve included a …
Five Things Every Year 1 Parent/Carer Should Know About the Phonics Screening Check. Read More »
If we asked you what the most common misspelled words are, do you think you would know? Do you think they are the same in classrooms all over the UK? What about all over the world? The results for 2025 are in! In 2025, a whopping 530,695,544 words were spelled using Spelling Shed. This was by 936,926 children across the world. Top 10 …
The Key Stage 2 SATs take place each year in May, where all eligible Year 6 pupils are assessed. This includes the English grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) test. We’ve analysed past papers, made some predictions and collated top tips to help you and your pupils prepare effectively. What Is Involved in the KS2 SATs GPS Papers? Paper 1: A test paper with multiple-choice or short-answer questions …
Statutory Assessment Series: Predictions and Preparation for the KS2 SATs GPS Papers Read More »
Like many educators, we eagerly awaited the release of the Writing Framework with our highlighters and post-it notes at the ready. In this blog post, we share seven key takeaways from the spelling section, along with our thoughts and how Spelling Shed aligns with it. 1. Spelling is key in releasing memory space for writing One of …
What Does the Writing Framework Say About Spelling? 7 Things You Need to Know Read More »
Did you know that most SSP (systematic synthetic phonics) programmes do not meet the National Curriculum statutory requirements for Key Stage 1? Phonics schemes are designed to meet the National Curriculum objectives for word reading and often miss spelling objectives. Often objectives like those listed below are omitted from phonics schemes. These objectives need to be covered in order to meet National Curriculum requirements; therefore, …
Using Spelling Shed Alongside Your Phonics Scheme Read More »
When schools choose to use Spelling Shed alongside Read Write Inc. Phonics, they often ask how it aligns. Spelling Shed can work hand-in-hand with Read Write Inc. Phonics. Remember that phonics schemes are designed to meet the National Curriculum objectives for word reading and often miss spelling objectives. Therefore, we recommend using Spelling Shed from Years 1 and 2. What do you need to consider? …
Using Spelling Shed Alongside Read Write Inc. Phonics Read More »
What is morphology and does it really matter? Where does etymology fit into the teaching of spelling? Here are some key takeaways. You can read part 1 of this blog series here, part 2 here and part 3 here. What is morphology? ‘Morphe’ means ‘form’ and ‘-ology’ means ‘the study of’, so morphology is the study of how words are formed. A …
How to Teach Spelling Effectively – Part Four: Morphology and Etymology Read More »
What should every teacher know about orthographic knowledge? Why is it so important to effectively teach spelling? Here are nine key takeaways. You can read part 1 of this blog series here and part 2 here. The diagram below shows the elements that build up our linguistic knowledge, including orthographic knowledge. The more times this process is repeated, the more solidly …
How to Teach Spelling Effectively – Part Three: Orthographic Knowledge (9 Key Takeaways) Read More »
When we think of phonics, we might think about our systematic, synthetic phonics programme that often ends at Key Stage One, but should phonics really end there? The simple answer is no. Phonics is a key part of reading and spelling beyond Key Stage One. Here are eight key takeaways of why phonics is important for all children. Read part one of this blog …
How to Teach Spelling Effectively – Part Two: Phonics for All (8 Key Takeaways) Read More »
How do you teach spelling effectively? First, we need to look at spelling skills and what is current common classroom practice. Here are nine key takeaways: 1. There are lots of influences on our spelling system. “It’s just spelled that way”, “it’s just a strange spelling”, “the English language is complicated”. These are many things that people say. Often the reason for this folk …
How to Teach Spelling Effectively – Part One: Spelling Skills (9 Key Takeaways) Read More »
Cornerstone C of E Primary School is a wonderful Phonics Shed and Spelling Shed Showcase School based in Fareham, Hampshire. We spoke to them to find out the impact that EdShed has had at their school. We are a rapidly growing primary school, set to become a full three-form entry institution. Currently, we have approximately …
The Impact of Phonics Shed and Spelling Shed at Cornerstone C of E Primary School Read More »
Early Years educator, phonics specialist and author, Katie Whitehead (known to her followers as Phonics Family), shares her advice for developing vital pre-reading skills. In the UK, conversations about school readiness are louder than ever. The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has declared it a national priority with ambitious targets. For example, 75% of five-year-olds being …
Find out how Danesfield Primary School are using Phonics Shed to improve results in their school.
At EdShed, we are always striving to make learning more effective and accessible for schools, teachers and pupils. That’s why we’re pleased to be part of MyLoginSSO. What is MyLoginSSO? Our integration partner, Wonde, has launched a super-fast single sign-on so you just log in once using one of the child-friendly sign-in options. This includes …
Nursery rhymes may seem like catchy tunes we sing with young children; however, the origins and importance of the nursery rhyme should not be overlooked. Phonics Shed are a proud sponsor of World Nursery Rhyme Week 2023. This fantastic week runs from the 13th to 17th November. Our nursery rhyme planning and resources are based …
Phonics is a body of skills and knowledge that we need to be able to use in order to master the language. It is used to teach how the 44 sounds (phonemes) of spoken English are linked to the individual or groups of written letters (graphemes). Malcolm Gladwell famously stated that it takes 10,000 hours …
Why use GPC Characters? Associating the characters with GPCs lends itself to story telling and putting these characters in meaningful contexts, which the pupils can relate to. These characters underpin the whole of the scheme and are referenced in the flashcards, decodable books, lesson plans, interventions, teaching books and formation rhymes. The characters are used …
Using GPC Characters for Engaging Phonics Teaching and Learning Read More »
