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 the key messages that is very clear throughout the Writing Framework is the importance of children being able to spell to free up working memory and reduce the cognitive load so they can focus on composition. In other words, the less the child must think about how to spell the word, the more they can focus on what they want to write. The goal is for spelling to be automatic. 

‘a pupil who is concentrating on their handwriting and spelling (transcription) will find it very challenging to put what they want to say on paper.’ Page 19 

‘Pupils who spell well are more confident about using advanced vocabulary than poorer spellers. This is because the latter feel they need to use words they can spell correctly. Further, spelling difficulties increase the cognitive load. Pupils who struggle with spelling write less, do so less fluently and produce lower-quality writing.’ Page 40 

‘The goal is to make sure pupils can spell accurately, so that it becomes automatic.’ Page 40  

2. Spelling should be taught systematically and explicitly

For spelling to be taught effectively, it needs to be taught systematically and explicitly.  

‘Most children need systematic teaching, with opportunities to practise and reinforce their spelling knowledge. As with handwriting, spelling teaching should be explicit, cumulative and engaging. It should be regular and consistent, taught in small steps, with lots of opportunity for practice.’ Page 41 

Spelling Shed teaches spelling systematically and explicitly. The lesson sequence is planned to systematically build upon acquired knowledge. For example, Stage 3 Lesson 1 focuses on words where the digraph ‘ou’ makes an /ow/ sound, then the following lesson focuses on words where the digraph ‘ou’ makes an /u/ sound.  

Direct instruction should be explicit and systematic, teaching patterns of the English language, as well as common exceptions. This includes the alphabetic principle, spelling-pattern knowledge and teaching children spelling patterns, not rules. Spelling Shed focuses on word study, which moves away from memorisation and focuses on learning the patterns of the language and uses linguistic skills. 

3. Phonics needs to be incorporated beyond Key Stage 1  

Before delving further into orthography, morphology and etymology, the framework makes the point that phonics should continue beyond Key Stage 1.

‘Pupils should continue to use phonics throughout primary school to help them spell.’ Page 42 

The framework gives an example of a child ‘Sophie’ whose teaching of phonics did not continue after she reached the threshold of the phonics screening check at Year 1 and therefore struggles with complex letter patterns and spelling in Key Stage 2. This further reinforces the message that phonics needs to be incorporated after Year 1 and beyond. 

Spelling Shed’s scheme incorporates phonics right the way through to the end of Year 6. 

4. Orthography, morphology and etymology are essential to teaching spelling  

The framework highlights that spelling needs more than just phonics to teach spelling effectively. Although phonics needs to be taught beyond Key Stage 1, children need to learn to choose the correct grapheme to represent the phoneme. This is done through exploring orthography.   

‘The national curriculum emphasises both teaching GPCs and building pupils’ wider understanding to help them choose the correct grapheme to represent each phoneme. This can be supported if pupils know letter pattern conventions (orthography), the units of meaning in words (morphology) and (to a more limited extent) the origins of words (etymology), all strengthened by their exposure to words in their reading.’ Page 42  

Although we anticipated and hoped for this to be in the Writing Framework, it is great to see the framework reflect research. We have been advocating and promoting this since the release of our 2021 scheme, which includes all these elements.   

Read more about The Science of Spelling here or watch our four part ‘How to Teach Spelling Effectively’ series starting with Part One: Spelling Skills here.  

Orthography  

‘Alongside phonological knowledge, students must have orthographic knowledge, that is, understanding which letter sequences are both possible and plausible in English’ Adoniou (2024, p.146)  

Orthographic mapping is the process used to store written words in long-term memory so they can be automatically recognised on sight. As orthographic mapping is a cognitive process, it is not something you can directly teach. That said, there are activities that you can use that support orthographic mapping. Spelling Shed’s scheme includes activities that support orthographic mapping, such as Elkonin boxes, sound buttons, syllable mapping, word sorts and word unscrambles.   

Morphology   

Exploring morphology aids spelling and vocabulary acquisition, as children can make connections between words, break down words into smaller parts and use their existing knowledge when spelling unfamiliar words.  

The Writing Framework gives examples of how exploring morphology can support spelling. In one example, it shows how the suffix ‘-ed’ signifies past tense. In another example, it shows how breaking words into morphemes can simplify spelling, as children can focus on spelling each part. It highlights using morpheme matrices (morphology matrices) to do this and notes how they can support pupils’ understanding. 

‘Morpheme matrices can help pupils to understand and learn how to combine Latin and Greek prefixes, roots and suffixes to support their spelling and comprehension. There are other versions.’ Appendix page 102  

The appendix also gives guidelines on how to use morphology matrices in the classroom. 

Spelling Shed uses morphology matrices in lessons to show how morphemes fit together. We encourage children to create new words by adding affixes to the root or base word.  

Spelling Shed doesn’t just use morphology matrices to explore morphology. Our word lists focus on spelling patterns and we have incorporated specific activities designed to develop morphological awareness. These include word sheds, exploring irregular spelling patterns and identifying morphemes, prefixes, suffixes and root or base words.  

Etymology 

Etymology and morphology go hand-in-hand. Morphology explains how words are formed and etymology can explain why words are spelled the way they are. Etymology is the study of word origins. 

‘Studying the origin of a word, especially when linked to morphology, promotes spelling.” Page 43 

Spelling Shed’s scheme incorporates etymology for better understanding of words. For example, in Stage 4 Lesson 30, we look at the etymology of the word ‘biped’. We explore that ‘bi’ means two and ‘ped’ means foot. From this, we can discuss other words that contain ‘bi’ meaning ‘two’ such as ‘bicycle’, ‘biplane’ and ‘biannual’. We also explore other words where ‘ped’ means ‘foot’, such as ‘pedal’, ‘pedestrian’ and ‘pedicure’. This helps children with the meaning of words and helps them to connect words. 

The Writing Framework highlights that when children are effective spellers, the cognitive load is reduced, so they can focus on composition. The diagram below shows how spelling becomes automatic.  

There are six main elements to becoming an effective speller. They are phonological knowledge, orthographic knowledge, morphological knowledge, etymological knowledge and visual knowledge. This is represented in the image above by Oakley and Fellowes. The light yellow shows the linguistic knowledge. These all need to be processed and applied to spelling words. For example, if you were going to use your phonological knowledge to spell the word ‘cat’, you would need to think about which sounds are in the word ‘cat’, what letters you can use to represent those sounds and then put them down on the paper. This is using ‘strategic knowledge and application’. It is much quicker to go from your visual knowledge or memorised words, but it is the linguistic knowledge that builds up the bank of memorised words (lexical store). 

The Writing Framework also identifies how these elements support pupils with dyslexia.

‘Pupils with dyslexia may benefit particularly from explicit teaching of orthography, morphology and etymology, alongside their peers, as is required in the national curriculum Section 3: Transcription). Teachers can provide support to develop pupils’ understanding using a range of tools, including morpheme matrices’

5. Spelling practice should be regular and consistent  

The Writing Framework states that spelling practice should be regular and consistent throughout primary school. It outlines what spelling practice should include.  

• ‘learning new words – teaching words before pupils encounter them in texts can be helpful; supporting pupils to say the words and understand their meanings will support them to apply learnt spellings in their writing.’ 

Spelling Shed supports this by focusing on whole-word understanding and highlighting connections between words, helping pupils see patterns and meaning. 

• ‘practising previously taught words to develop speed and automaticity, and writing dictated sentences containing words that have already been practised’ 

Every Spelling Shed lesson includes a revise section where children revisit sounds and spelling patterns from earlier weeks in the scheme. Spelling Shed’s games are also designed to develop speed and automaticity. Mastery Zone is an AI-driven tool that identifies gaps, fills them and personalises learning, meaning previously taught words are continuously revisited.  

• ‘learning common exception words – pupils will often learn these through identifying the tricky part of the word or by using a mnemonic’ 

Common exception words are incorporated into Spelling Shed’s scheme alongside the relevant spelling pattern or in ‘challenge weeks’; they are included in the gameplay. Spelling Shed also has common exception words and statutory word lists as separate lists, which educators can assign for children to practise using Spelling Shed games.  

• ‘independent practice activities, so that the teacher can work with other groups or provide extra support for pupils who need it. A handwriting task that includes the new spellings can also support pupils to commit spellings to their long-term memory.‘

Spelling Shed games encourage independence. Pupils can play at their own pace and level. They get instant feedback and encouragement from inbuilt rewards (honeypots) that they can spend on customising their avatars.  

Every Spelling Shed lesson includes an independent section. This section is designed to be carried out by pupils with minimal input.

• planned opportunities to explore the morphology of words, such as using morpheme matrices.

Spelling Shed lessons explore the morphology of words and morpheme matrices are built into the lessons.  

• encouragement, acknowledgement and feedback 

Spelling Shed’s multi-level games give instant feedback and rewards. This motivates pupils and ensures that every child experiences success. This is key for children, as experiencing success develops confidence.  

6. Assessing spelling should be more than a simple spelling test  

‘Effective assessment requires more than just a simple spelling test, since pupils are likely to learn new spellings for the test but then not apply them in their writing. Low-stakes testing that prompts them to recall previously taught spellings is likely to provide a more accurate picture of progress as well as providing the retrieval practice that is essential for long-term recall.’ Page 44 

It is key that the Writing Framework acknowledges that lots of children just learn or memorise words for a test and don’t apply them in their writing. We speak to many educators whose pupils get 10/10 on their spelling tests but struggle to apply them to their writing and this was a big motivator when creating Spelling Shed’s scheme. We wanted spelling to be taught effectively and get educators to move away from rote memorisation. We also recognise the importance of educators being able to understand spelling errors and how to correct them based on whether they are phonological, morphological or orthographic errors.  

Spelling Shed has a suite of tools to enable teachers to monitor and assess spelling. This includes tracking pupil gameplay along with their responses. 

On top of this, Mastery Zone is also included in Spelling Shed’s subscription. Mastery Zone is an AI-driven tool that runs a mini-diagnostic to identify strengths and weaknesses. It identifies gaps, fills them and personalises learning. Data from Mastery Zone is fed into a handy data report. This means that assessment is low-stakes, children receive instant feedback and learning is personalised.  

7. Spelling impacts reading

‘Improved spelling is also correlated with faster reading speeds, supporting reading fluency and comprehension. At a simple level, every word a pupil can spell becomes a word they can read.’ Page 15 

Catherine Snow et al. (2005) summarise the real importance of spelling for reading as follows: “Spelling and reading build and rely on the same mental representation of a word. Knowing the spelling of a word makes the representation of it sturdy and accessible for fluent reading.”  

Spelling Shed’s word study approach helps pupils explore the patterns, structures and meaning within words. This helps pupils see spelling as a connected system rather than isolated words.  

Read the full Writing Framework for yourself here.  

Bonus Resources:  

At the end of the spelling section in the Writing Framework, there is a handy spelling audit for educators to complete. We have completed it as a Spelling Shed school and it is free for you to download.  

We have also collated all of the audits from the Writing Framework into one handy PDF for you to download.