The spelling paper is one of my favourite things to do a breakdown for. I find the process quite methodical and I love looking at how it matches up to the National Curriculum. This year, I really have started to notice how badly the National Curriculum is ageing compared to current word knowledge. If you want …
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 »
Big words, bold outfits and buzzing classrooms. Spelling Shed Launch or Relaunch Day is all about enthusiasm for vocabulary. It’s more than rummaging around and getting creative to dress up as a word, it’s the start of encouraging curiosity with words, showing pupils that spelling is genuinely fun. From clever puns to full-character transformations, teachers and pupils bring language to life in ways that last …
How to Launch and Relaunch Spelling Shed with Dress as a Word Day! 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 »
Neurodivergent Educational Psychologist Dr Joanne Riordan shares her top tips for supporting learners with dyslexia. Dyslexia is not a deficit — it’s a different way of thinking, learning, and experiencing the world. As an Educational Psychologist, a neurodivergent person, and a parent to a dyslexic child, I see the full picture — from the classroom …
Supporting Our Dyslexic Learners: 10 Things All Adults Should Know Read More »
The whole of the EdShed interface is being changed and updated to improve educators’ (or sheducators’) experience of EdShed. This has started with our leading product, Spelling Shed. Spelling Shed has had a huge new update, which is now on a preview release, that not only looks different but also gives educators a whole new wealth …
Part 4 of ‘How to Make the Most Out of Your Spelling Shed Subscription’ focuses on Spelling Shed’s writing scanner. Read part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here. Writing Scanner Spelling Shed’s writing scanner is a great assessment tool. You can upload an image of a pupil’s work to their …
How to Make the Most Out of Your Spelling Shed Subscription Part 4: Writing Scanner Read More »
Spelling Shed’s subscription includes a full research-based spelling scheme, spelling games, a full grammar curriculum, grammar games, Mastery Zone, end-of-term assessments, data and assessment tools, leagues, challenges and a writing scanner! Part 3 of ‘How to Make the Most Out of Your Spelling Shed Subscription’ focuses on all thing grammar including Spelling Shed’s Grammar …
Spelling Shed includes everything you need to teach and lead spelling effectively. Part 2 of ‘How to Make the Most Out of Your Spelling Shed Subscription’ focuses on data and assessment, leagues and challenges. Read part 1 here. Data and Assessment Spelling Shed includes a full suite of tools to enable schools and educators to …
How to Make the Most Out of Your Spelling Shed Subscription Part 2: Data and Assessment Read More »
Whether you’re new to Spelling Shed or have used Spelling Shed for years, it’s always useful to make sure you are getting the most out of your subscription, especially because there are always new features being released to enhance your experience. What once started as an app has escalated into a full multi-award-winning, innovative spelling …
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 »
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 …
With the SATs season around the corner, we share some of our top tips for preparing your class for the spelling paper as part of grammar, punctuation and spelling tests. When? This year, the two papers for spelling, punctuation and grammar are on May 13th. Paper 1 covers grammar and punctuation and Paper 2 covers …
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 is spelling such a complex skill to master and how can we teach students to be effective spellers? A common misconception is that if you can read a word then you can spell it. However, there are many ways a phoneme (sound) can be represented in written form. Take the phoneme /k/. It can …
What is Orthography? ‘The conventional spelling system of a language.’ ‘The study of spelling and how letters combine to represent sounds and form words.’ (Oxford English Dictionary) High quality SSP ensuring children have a solid foundational knowledge of GPCs The first way we use orthography is when teaching pupils phonics in KS1. We advocate the …
How to use Orthography to get the Most out of Phonics for Spelling Read More »
The summer holidays are a much welcome break for both teachers and children, but even more so this year after the Covid-19 pandemic and the uncertainty and stresses that have come with it. The team at EdShed are so happy that we have been able to help teachers plan lessons and make home learning more …
10 Free Apps to help kids continue learning over summer Read More »
This video is of a whole-school training session on getting the most out of Spelling Shed. We look at the different ways word lists can be set up and tools to engage learners. Thanks to Bewdley Primary School for letting us film. Learn more about Spelling Shed HERE.
