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Revision of reception work
The boundary between revision of work covered in Reception and the introduction of new work may vary according to the programme used, but basic revision should include:
Statutory requirements |
Non‑statutory information and Spellzone resources |
The sounds /f/, /l/, /s/, /z/ and /k/ spelt ff, ll, ss, zz and ck. |
The /f/, /l/, /s/, /z/ and /k/ sounds are usually spelt as ff, ll, ss, zz and ck if they come straight after a single vowel letter in short words. Exceptions: if, pal, us, bus, yes.
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The /ŋ/ sound spelt n before k. |
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Division of words into syllables. |
Each syllable is like a ‘beat’ in the spoken word. Words of more than one syllable often have an unstressed syllable in which the vowel sound is unclear. |
-tch. |
The /tʃ/ sound is usually spelt as tch if it comes straight after a single vowel letter. Exceptions: rich, which, much, such. catch, fetch, kitchen, notch, hutch |
The /v/ sound at the end of words. |
English words hardly ever end with the letter v, so if a word ends with a /v/ sound, the letter e usually needs to be added after the ‘v’. |
Adding s and es to words (plural of nouns and the third person singular of verbs). |
If the ending sounds like /s/ or /z/, it is spelt as –s. If the ending sounds like /ɪz/ and forms an extra syllable or ‘beat’ in the word, it is spelt as –es. |
Adding the endings –ing, –ed and –er to verbs where no change is needed to the root word. |
–ing and –er always add an extra syllable to the word and –ed sometimes does. |
Adding –er and –est to adjectives where no change is needed to the root word. |
As with verbs (see above), if the adjective ends in two consonant letters (the same or different), the ending is simply added on. |
Some may already be known, depending on the programmes used in Reception, but some will be new.
Vowel digraphs and trigraphs |
Non‑statutory information and Spellzone resources |
ai, oi |
The digraphs ai and oi are virtually never used at the end of English words. Curriculum word list |
ay, oy |
ay and oy are used for those sounds at the end of words and at the end of syllables. Curriculum word list |
a–e |
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e–e |
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i–e |
Curriculum word list |
o–e |
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u–e |
Both the /u:/ and /ju:/ (‘oo’ and ‘yoo’) sounds can be spelt as u–e. |
ar |
Curriculum word list |
ee |
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ea (/i:/) |
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ea (/ɛ/) |
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er (/ɜ:/) |
Curriculum word list (stressed sound) |
er (/ə/) |
Curriculum word list (unstressed schwa sound) |
ir |
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ur |
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oo (/u:/) |
Very few words end with the letters oo, although the few that do are often words that primary children in year 1 will encounter, for example, zoo. |
oo (/ʊ/) |
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oa |
The digraph oa is very rare at the end of an English word. |
oe |
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ou |
The only common English word ending in ou is you. |
ow (/aʊ/) |
Both the /u:/ and /ju:/ (‘oo’ and ‘yoo’) sounds can be spelt as u–e, ue and ew. If words end in the /oo/ sound, ue and ew are more common spellings than oo. |
ie (/aɪ/) |
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ie (/i:/) |
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Igh |
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or |
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ore |
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aw |
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au |
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air |
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ear |
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ear (/ɛə/) |
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are (/ɛə/) |
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Words ending –y (/i:/ or /ɪ/). |
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New consonant spellings ph and wh. |
The /f/ sound is not usually spelt as ph in short everyday words (e.g. fat, fill, fun). Curriculum word list |
Using k for the /k/ sound. |
The /k/ sound is spelt as k rather than as c before e, i and y. Curriculum word list |
Adding the prefix –un. |
The prefix un– is added to the beginning of a word without any change to the spelling of the root word. |
Compound words. |
Compound words are two words joined together. Each part of the longer word is spelt as it would be if it were on its own. |
Common exception words. |
Pupils’ attention should be drawn to the grapheme-phoneme correspondences that do and do not fit in with what has been taught so far. Curriculum word list - 1 |
| See the Spellzone course units for content mapped to the curriculum including homophones (H) units. | |
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