In Key Stage 2, we teach daily spelling, punctuation and grammar sessions (SPAG), where children are given opportunities to apply new skills in a wide range of reading and writing activities. We follow the National Curriculum and Purple Mash Spelling for this. Purple Mash Spelling will also be used as a practice and consolidation tool that children can interact with at home and school. This will link to their weekly spelling rule and should create some enthusiasm around spellings through game like activities.

Spelling patterns and rules for the week are introduced each Monday and the revisited and practiced through the use of dictated sentences each Tuesday. The focus each Wednesday is punctuation, on Thursday it is Grammar and then Friday spellings through dictation, and addressing misconceptions. 

Common Exception Words 

As in Reception and Key Stage 1, there are common exception words which we teach the children in Key Stage 2. Different words are identified for each year group. Common exception words are words that do not follow the common phonetic spelling rules. They are sometimes referred to as tricky words. They are words which appear frequently in texts and help readers to understand what they are reading, for example 'the' in Reception. We send copies of these words home so that children can practise reading them easily and at speed.