SPELLING & VOCABULARY CURRICULUM

We Are Spelling and Vocabulary Champions!

How We Support Children to Become Accurate Spellers with a Rich and Adventurous Vocabulary

Spelling and Vocabulary – Statement of Intent

At Kingston, we recognise the importance of ensuring every pupil leaves our school as a confident, fluent speller with the strategies and knowledge needed to tackle unfamiliar words. We also know that a rich vocabulary underpins success in reading, writing and communication. Our carefully structured curriculum ensures that every child experiences a progressive journey through spelling and vocabulary, preparing them fully for the next stage of their education.

We Believe:

• Expanding vocabulary improves spelling, as children better understand word structure, meaning and morphology.
• Vocabulary strengthens reading comprehension, enabling children to interpret texts with confidence.
• Secure spelling supports clear communication across the curriculum.
• Accurate spelling strengthens writing quality, keeping the focus on content.
• Strong spelling and vocabulary enhance life chances, supporting success beyond primary school.

Our Curriculum Includes:

• Key spelling and vocabulary knowledge to be secured each year
• Progression in spelling patterns, phonics knowledge and word structures
• A commitment to vocabulary teaching across the curriculum, including strong emphasis on Tier 3 (subject-specific vocabulary)
• Explicit teaching of Tier 2 vocabulary through our Active Reading programme and spelling pattern instruction
• Year‑group spelling milestones and expectations
• Clear non‑negotiables for high‑quality spelling and vocabulary teaching

Implementation of Our Spelling and Vocabulary Curriculum

Whole School Approach

• High‑quality phonics teaching provides the foundation for accurate spelling.
• A Specialist Leader in Education (SLE) ensures high‑quality phonics provision.
• Our bespoke Pixead picture–sound correspondence scheme ensures consistent phonic learning across school, all the way up to year 6. (See appendix A).
• Classrooms are vocabulary-rich, supporting curiosity and language confidence.
• Each class has rich vocabulary displayed and words are added to the vocabulary working wall.
• Termly baseline assessments on Doodle to ensure individual, personalised support to close any gaps in knowledge.
• Annual whole‑school spelling bee celebrates achievement and builds motivation.
• Retrieval practice supports long‑term retention of spelling patterns and vocabulary.
• We use regular dictated sentences to embed spelling in meaningful context, helping pupils apply taught patterns in real writing situations and strengthening both spelling accuracy and sentence-level skills.

Addressing Misconceptions and Making Every Moment Count

 At Kingston, we ensure that no spelling opportunity is missed. Staff consistently address misconceptions as they arise, using immediate modelling, verbal feedback and guided correction to secure accurate spelling. When adults notice pupils making errors, especially with words, patterns or rules that have already been taught, they model the correct spelling, rehearse strategies with the child and support them to edit in the moment. Every spelling mistake becomes a learning opportunity, strengthening long-term accuracy, confidence and independence.

Use of Doodle Spell (Years 1–6)

We make strategic and impactful use of Doodle Spell across the school:

• Years 1 and 2:
  Pupils have dedicated curriculum time for individualised Doodle Spell sessions. This sophisticated adaptive system personalises tasks to each child's current spelling profile, strengthening phonics, spelling patterns and common exception word accuracy.
• Years 3–6:
  We follow a structured two‑week cycle:
• One week of explicit teaching using Spelling Frame focused on statutory spelling rules, morphology and pattern knowledge.
• One week of personalised Doodle Spell practice, providing targeted intervention for every pupil based on their unique spelling age and identified gaps.

This approach ensures all learners receive tailored support, whether for consolidation, catch‑up or challenge.

Vocabulary Across the Curriculum

We place strong emphasis on teaching vocabulary in every subject, ensuring children understand and use the language needed for success.

Tier 3 Vocabulary (Subject-Specific Words)

Across science, geography, history, art, RE, computing and more, teachers explicitly teach Tier 3 vocabulary so children can understand concepts with precision and express their thinking clearly. These words appear in knowledge organisers, working walls, lesson introductions and retrieval activities.

Tier 2 Vocabulary (High-Utility Academic Words)

Tier 2 words are taught through:

• Active Reading sessions, where pupils explore meanings, context and application
• Spelling lessons, where spelling patterns link to word families, synonyms and morphology

This ensures children encounter academic vocabulary frequently and meaningfully.

Spelling Progression Across the School

EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 (Autumn Term)

Spelling teaching is centred on the Kingston Letters and Sounds Synthetic Phonics Programme, ensuring pupils secure:

• Strong sound–letter correspondences
• Accurate segmenting and blending
• Application of phonics knowledge in reading and writing

Additional EYFS Practice

Drawing Club is used in EYFS to enrich early spelling and vocabulary. Children are immersed in high‑quality picture books, tales and animations, the Golden Blend, which exposes them to rich language and story structures. During shared story time, teachers introduce new vocabulary; children then apply this language in imaginative drawing and storytelling. This process supports early spelling through meaningful mark‑making, phonics application and the development of story‑linked vocabulary. Each week focuses on 6 key words for the children to learn.

Year 2 (Spring Term Onwards) – Year 6

Pupils follow age-appropriate spelling rules, patterns and statutory word lists through Spelling Frame. This includes:

• Fortnightly curriculum‑aligned rules
• Practice and test modes
• Structured spelling lists
• Interactive games
• Opportunities for independent and guided learning

Individualised Digital Support (Years 1–6)

Doodle Spell provides:

• Adaptive, personalised learning
• Practice linked to spelling age
• Automatic gap analysis
• Targeted small‑step tasks
• Motivational features that promote regular engagement

Interventions (What We Do If Pupils Are Not on Track)

• Catch‑up spelling intervention revisiting earlier expectations
• Extra phonics sessions (EYFS–Year 3)
• Small‑group phonics or spelling‑pattern support
• Small‑group spelling interventions
• Vocabulary pre‑teaching of essential words
• Daily overlearning for struggling spellers
• Close monitoring and timely action to address gaps
• Year 6 challenge and support groups (January–May)
• A range of online platforms that support spelling

Impact

Our approach ensures pupils:

• Use a wide range of strategies to spell unfamiliar words
• Understand spelling patterns and word structure
• Develop ambitious, precise vocabulary
• Show confidence in reading, writing and speaking
• Are fully prepared for the next stage of their learning

Through consistent, high‑quality teaching and innovative tools like Spelling Frame and Doodle Spell, our pupils grow into curious, capable and confident users of language.