As you may already know, I started out as an English teacher; I lost count early on of the number of children who professed to be ‘bad at spelling’ and then proceeded to put an inordinate amount of pressure on themselves to become the fabled ‘Excellent Speller’, frequently driven by the notion that spelling things correctly was and is the key to success in an English exam. This week I heard the same from a Year Eleven pupil, and I was quick to correct the misconception. In the English Language IGCSE ‘accurate spelling’ is a feature of the mark scheme, there are 18 marks available in total, but accurate spelling sits alongside ‘Writing clearly, using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures, with appropriate paragraphing and accurate, grammar and punctuation.’ Further, the paper has a total of 90 marks available, meaning that if you were to isolate ‘accurate spelling’ it wouldn’t be worth many marks at all. Of course, this doesn’t make it unimportant, having accurate spelling supports understanding and communicating meaning, but if that’s what pupils are sweating over, the returns will be minimal.
It’s never too early to start learning how to effectively strategise when it comes to spelling. I don’t consider myself a good speller at all, I just learned to recognise my problem areas and how to adapt. Ask me to spell a word out loud and I am often stumped, but if I write it down (or a couple of potential spellings) I can often visually identify the correct one. It won’t be a surprise to learn that reading is a useful strategy, but as the Year Elevens started to roll their eyes at me, I quickly pointed out that reading means many things, the key things is to see words. That may be Jane Eyre for some, if that’s too daunting try a non-fiction book on a subject that interests you. Still a big ask? A magazine or newspaper article, if it’s from a reputable source which would be proofread it’s still exposing you to vocabulary and accurate spelling. Still too much? Then subtitles on Netflix (or your TV of choice), it’s an easy starting point to expose pupils to words if they absolutely can’t be drawn to a book, a way to ease them in gently, the equivalent of starting your marathon training with a 5km parkrun, you can build your confidence gradually.
Ever Onward and Upward
Ms Purdy
Image: Diorama of the Garage from Skellig by David Almond (Year 7 set text)