OUR YEAR 2 SPELLING UNITS - 

We use spelling shed as our spelling scheme. Children have logins to use at home to work on their spellings. Each week a new spelling pattern goes live. Please speak to your child's class teacher if you need their login information.

Autumn Term 1

1. Words where 'dge' makes a /j/ sound e.g. edge, wedge, smudge.

2. Words where 'ge' makes a /j/ sound e.g. orange, strange, hinge.

3. Words where 'g' makes a /j/ sound e.g magic, giraffe, gem.

4. Words where 'c' makes an /s/ sound before e,i,y e.g. city, race, circle.

5. Words where 'kn' and 'gn' make a /n/ sound at the beginning of words e.g. knot, knee, gnome.

6. Challenge words - words with irregular spelling patterns - mind, find, kind, behind, floor, poor, door, child, children.

Autumn Term 2

7. Words where 'wr' makes a /r/ sound at the beginning of words e.g. write, wriggle, wrong.

8. Words ending in 'le' e.g. cable, middle, little.

9. Words ending in 'el' e.g. jewel, travel, tunnel.

10. Words ending in 'al' e.g. medal, hospital, animal.

11. Words ending in 'il' e.g. pencil, pupil, nostril.

12. Challenge words - words with irregular spelling patterns - both, old, cold, hold, told, wild, only, climb.

Spring Term 1

13. Words where 'y' makes an /igh/ sound e.g. fly, cry, deny.

14. Words where '-es' is added to words ending in 'y' e.g. tries, spies, flies.

15. Words where '-ed' is added to words ending in 'y' e.g. copied, replied, magnified.

16. Words where '-er' and '-est' are added to words ending in 'y' e.g. happier, happiest, drier, driest.

17. Words where '-ing' is added to word ending in 'e' e.g. hiking, shining, joking.

18. Challenge words - words with irregular spelling patterns - every, everybody, even, great, break, steak, pretty, beautiful, after, fast.

Spring Term 2

19. Words where ‘-er’, ‘-est’, and ‘-ed’ are added to words ending in ‘e’ e.g. nicer, writer, hoped.

20. Words where ‘-ing’ is added to single syllable words e.g. humming, dropping, running.

21. Words where ‘-ed’ is added to single syllable words e.g. patted, clapped, wrapped.

22. Words where 'a' makes an /or/ sound before 'l' and 'll' e.g. ball, fall, always.

23. Words where 'o' makes an /u/ sound e.g. other, money, dozen.

24. Challenge words - last, past, father, class, grass, pass, plant, path, bath, rather.

Summer Term 1

25. Words where the digraph 'ey' makes an /ee/ sound e.g. key. donkey, valley.

26. Words where 'a' makes an /o/ sound e.g. want. watch, squash.

27. Words where the /er/ and /or/ sounds are spelled ‘or’ and ‘ar’ e.g. word, world, warm.

28.  Words where ‘si’ and ‘s’ make a /zh/ sound e.g. television, usual, treasure.

29.  Words ending in ‘-ment’ and ‘-ness’ e.g. payment, darkness, adjustment.

30.  Words ending in '-ful' and '-less' e.g. careful, playful, useless.

Summer Term 2

31. Words that are homophones e.g. there, their, here, hear, see, sea, two, too, blue, blew.

32. Words that are homophones or near homophones e.g. quiet, quite, bare, bear, son, sun, be, bee, night, knight

33. Words ending in '-tion' e.g. station, injection, competition.

34. Words with apostrophes for contraction e.g. can't, it's, I'll.

35. Words with apostrophes for possession e.g. dog's, man's. lady's.

36. Challenge words e.g. whole, any, many, clothes, busy, people, water, again, half, hour.

Please find below the common tricky words which children are expected to be able to spell by the end of Key Stage One.

As a mainstream school we are required to deliver the English Programme of Study as specified by the Government.  The changes in 2014 placed a greater emphasis on spelling and thus we have looked into ways in which we can improve the teaching of spelling .At each age group there are lists of common exception words, also called 'tricky' words, which we are required to assess children's accuracy when spelling. Therefore, practicing and promoting correct spelling is important, hence the 'spelling tests.' However, for some children tests cause anxiety and they fear disappointing teachers or parents and compare themselves negatively to their peers. This focus on accuracy can also often hinder children when writing creatively; they often choose less ambitious vocabulary for fear of spelling unknown words incorrectly and stick to subjects and words that they know.

In order to help manage this requirement for accuracy we have invested in a spelling programme for the school which promotes short, daily sessions based on repetition of spelling patterns in a variety of activities. The spelling 'test' as you know it has been changed to be carried out in a less formal structure, encouraging children to self-correct, leading to them each having words which they found tricky to focus on in spelling future sessions.

Your role as parents/carers is hugely valued. We suggest that you encourage short, practice sessions over the week as repetition is incredibly helpful when learning new spelling patterns.