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Ranelagh Primary School

Ranelagh Primary School

Spelling

Year 1 Spellings 

We teach spellings as part of our daily English lessons, focusing on different spelling patterns and rules. Below are some of the main spelling rules that are covered throughout the year.

  • The or sound spelt a before l and ll
  • Soft c spelt before e, i and y
  • Year 1 and 2 common exception words: where, there, want, could, was, would, what
  • Adding the suffix y (1) to words ending in a short vowel and a consonant
  • Adding the suffix y (2) to words ending in e
  • Homophones: sea/see, son/sun, blew/blue, knight/night, saw/sore, quite/quiet
  • Adding the suffix ly (to words to make adverbs)
  • The n sound spelt kn and (less often) gn at the beginning of words
  • Year 1 and 2 common exception words: money, people, busy, half
  • The igh sound spelt y at the end of words
  • Adding the suffix ing (1) to words ending in a short vowel and a consonant
  • Homophones: there/their, no/know, right/write, to/too, week/weak
  • Adding the suffix ing (2) to words ending in e or ie
  • The j sound spelt ge and dge

Year 2 Spellings 

We teach spellings as part of our daily English lessons, focusing on different spelling patterns and rules. Below are some of the main spelling rules that are covered throughout the year.

  • The r sound spelt wr at the beginning of words
  • Adding the suffixes er or est (1) (words where no change is needed; words ending in e)
  • Year 1 and 2 common exception words: many, some, should, come, any, would
  • Adding the suffixes er or est (2) and swapping y for i
  • Adding the suffixes er or est (3); doubling consonants where the root word ends in a short vowel plus consonant
  • Homophones: there/their/they’re, too/two, for/four, nose/knows, ate/eight
  • The ee sound spelt ey
  • Adding the suffix ness (1) to a root word where no change is needed
  • Words ending in il and words where s makes the zh sound  ie. pupil, fossil, treasure, usual
  • Adding the suffix ness (2) and swapping y for i
  • Words ending in le
  • Homophones: seen/scene, wait/weight, hole/whole, sighed/side, new/knew
  • Words ending in el
  • Words ending in al
  • The ir sound spelt or after w: worm, world, worth, password, workshop
  • Adding the suffix ful
  • Adding the suffix less
  • Contractions and apostrophes: I’ve, we’d, they’ve, you’ve, you’d, they’d
  • Adding the suffix ment
  • Words ending in tion
  • Adding the suffix es
  • Possessive apostrophes

 Year 3 spellings

We teach spellings as part of our daily English lessons, focusing on different spelling patterns and rules. Below are some of the main spelling rules that are covered throughout the year.

  • Adding the prefixes dis and in
  • Adding im to root words beginning with m or p
  • Year 3 and 4 word list: answer, island, February, length, strength, business, etc…
  • Adding the suffix ous
  • Adding the suffix ly to adjectives to form adverbs
  • Words ending in ture
  • Homophones: no/know, write/right, where/wear, meet/meat, great/grate, bear/bare
  • Adding ation to verbs to form nouns
  • Words with the c sound spelt ch
  • Words with the sh sound spelt ch
  • The short i sound spelt y: myth, Egypt, gym, pyramid, mysterious
  • Adding the suffix ion to root words ending in t or te
  • Adding the suffix ian to root words ending in c or cs
  • Adding the prefix re
  • Homophones: not/knot, ball/bawl, plain/plane, whether/weather, scene/seen, hear/here
  • Adding the prefix anti
  • Adding the prefix super
  • Adding the prefix sub

 Year 4 Spellings

We teach spellings as part of our daily English lessons, focusing on different spelling patterns and rules. Below are some of the main spelling rules that are covered throughout the year.

  • Adding the prefix mis and revising un, in and dis
  • Words ending in zhuh spelt sure
  • The short u sound spelt ou: double, trouble, toughest, young, country, touch
  • Adding the prefix auto
  • Adding the suffix ly to adjectives to form adverbs
  • Adding the prefix inter
  • Homophones: groan/grown, main/mane, reign/rain/rein, peace/piece, berry/bury
  • Words with the ay sound spelt ei, eigh, ey
  • Words ending in ous
  • Words with the s sound spelt sc
  • Possessive apostrophes with plural words
  • Words ending in zhun spelt sion
  • Adding il and revising un, in, mis and dis
  • The c sound spelt que and the g sound spelt gue
  • Homophones: heal/heel, missed/mist, who’s/whose, accept/except, affect/effect
  • Adding ir to words beginning with r
  • Adding the suffix ion

Year 5 Spellings 

We teach spellings as part of our daily English lessons, focusing on different spelling patterns and rules. Below are some of the main spelling rules that are covered throughout the year alongside the National Curriculum word lists for Years 5 and 6 (see attached below).

  • Words with the silent letter b
  • Words that contain the letter-string ough
  • Words ending in ible
  • Year 5 and 6 homophones (see word list from National Curriculum) as well as other words that are easily confused
  • Words ending in able
  • Words with the silent letter t
  • Words ending in ibly and ably
  • Words ending in ent
  • Words ending in ence
  • The ee sound spelt ei
  • Words ending in ant, ance and ancy
  • Words ending in shus spelt cious, tious
  • Words ending in shul spelt cial or tial

 Year 6 Spellings
 

We teach spellings as part of our daily English lessons, focusing on different spelling patterns and rules. Below are some of the main spelling rules that are covered throughout the year alongside the National Curriculum word lists for Years 5 and 6 (see attached below).

  • Suffixes – revising instances where we do not change the root word when a suffix beginning with a vowel is added
  • Words containing the letter string ough
  • Suffixes – root words ending in a consonant plus e
  • Suffixes – adding to root words ending in le or a consonant plus y
  • Year 5 and 6 homophones (see word list from National Curriculum) as well as other words that are easily confused
  • Adding suffixes beginning with a vowel to words of more than one syllable as well as words ending in fer
  • The sh sound spelt ti or ci
  • The sh sound spelt si or ssi
  • Words with ‘silent’ letters, ie. doubt, lamb, solemn, thistle, knight
  • The spellings ei and ie
  • Words ending in ible and able
  • Commonly mistaken words, ie. advice/advise, practise/practice, prophecy/prophesy, farther/further/father
  • Plural nouns (adding es to nouns and verbs ending in y)

 

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