Does anyone know whether the new National Curriculum makes weekly spelling tests mandatory in infants?

[TheOriginalMerylStrop]

Message from DS (year 1) 's teacher suggests so.

How depressing.

I believe there is evidence that children should be learning to write/spell words (encode) at the same time that they are learning to sound them out (decode). Unfortunately, from what I have read, a lot of schools aren't doing this. Indeed a fair number of schools aren't even teaching phonics very effectively, which certainly isn't going to help with spelling.

It would be interesting to know how many schools are instead still recommending the ineffective Look, cover, write, check approach to learning spelling lists which makes them pretty useless, instead of teaching more effective syllable and sound based methods. If schools are still using outdated practices, then surely the answer is to change those practices, rather than just put more pressure on children at a younger age.

My children's school does spelling tests weekly from reception, it's independent. The problem for state schools is that as the bar is being raised for what constitutes a good level of education, they have further to go to reach these targets, and jump through the government's hoops. If schools do not attain certain levels of 'achievement' then they will be punished. What are they supposed to do?
I'm pretty sure most parents wouldn't actually want the schools converted to crappy chain academies.

Spelling test has my DS in a wreck every week too.

Daft thing is though, phonetically he can spell them, he's really grasped Phonics and I think the school teaching of them is mediocre to good (no phonic reading books still grrrrr stupid school but more books).

He has some fine motor delay though so writing the damn spellings is what is killing him. He can't form his letters and it makes his hand hurt. They expect giant long sentences too. Utterly ridiculous as he isn't developmentally ready.

It's really knocking him and I'm seeing some school refusal.

Dungandbother I believe there are special pens than can help with grip and hurting hands - has he got those? And I seem to remember someone suggesting writing slopes, although I'm not sure if that's for the same thing - have you spoken to school's SENCO?

Our sons' school dropped spelling tests entirely when it adopted the new NC; realising that they are a hopeless way of helping children, y'know, learn to spell.

Instead, they get weekly GaPS homework, with a spelling element, that focuses on using the words in context - along with personalised targets based on words that each individual child is finding problematic.

My kids aced every single spelling test they took from Y1 - they have great memories, and read a lot. Didn't stop them from making silly mistakes when writing. Now, their knowledge is a lot deeper and more secure.

DS1 (YR 5) has had 25 spellings dumped onto him, he's in the top set in Literacy but even these are defeating him. It takes half an hour to go through them all, mark them and correct errors, then there's guided reading, and normal reading.

For a child who loved reading when he was younger, he has to be forced to pick up a book because the current education system has destroyed the love he once had.

The National Curriculum is failing every child and the government is adding more pressure on to such young children.

I dread DS2 starting school in September, there's no room to develop a love of learning.

Thanks Kesstral
I keep toying with speaking to Senco but then thinking I'm over protective.

Vocational

When schools insist on using out-of-date and ineffective methods, they seem to try to make up the slack by just increasing the time spent, including delegating a lot of the misery to parents at home through homework, when both children and parents are tired.

Dungandbother Not overprotective at all. I would definitely speak to the SENCO, because special aids could perhaps help the problem quite easily. And if no luck there, then post the question here or on one of the SEN forums - I bet Mrz could make some suggestions.

Multivac that is a very good point. Simply blaming everything on the new curriculum and the government is too simplistic, in my opinion.

There's a couple of threads with mrz's list of activities for developing motor control somewhere. I'll see if I can find one.

I'd disagree that the new curriculum is failing every child. The way in which some schools are implementing it might be. I've a feeling that if some schools slowed down and thought about the basics a bit more then they might find the endpoints a bit easier to achieve.

DD has had spelling tests since the beginning of Yr 1 but is fairly good at spellings/reading so was given them to do with Yr2 (as it was a mixed class). Of course now she's yr 2 in the same classroom and was the only one last year doing the spellings with yr 2, she's now doing the same ones again, but hey ho, it's all practice...

As someone else said, there is a Spelling test in the SATs for 2016 (Yr 2s). The sample paper looks fairly straightforward though (because being the worry-wart that I am I've printed off the sample SATs papers for next year from the govt website...).

I had a very interesting discussion though with DD's teacher at parents evening who said that (in her view) the curriculum isn't necessarily harder, it's just that they get deeper into the topics that they have to learn instead of having to brush the surface of lots of different things. Which is why they won't have children who have a higher level of understanding doing new stuff, they will just learn to a deeper level. She was supportive of it and having had her explanation, so am I.

Of course whether it works that way in reality is anyone's guess since it's new for everyone...

My experience thus far, though, (3 kids - years 6, 4, and 1) is that the new curriculum IS a large part of it. Aspiring for everyone to be average. It's bullshit and tbh if I didn't work I would have them all out of school like a shot.

Deepening is a nonsense in terms of my experience with Y6s. The very able cohort are bored and unchallenged, especially in maths, because their learning is now curtailed - only so much "deepening" is possible when a kid's been ace-ing Level 6 papers for 2.5 years. (one can always spend one's time rote-learning spellings of course). Less academically able are having to skid over it all so fast to cover the volume of new stuff - regardless of their actually level of developmental ability - that no depth is possible.

DS (Year 1) just started getting spellings last week. If he doesn't get them all right he has to keep those spellings for next week and so on till he gets all five right. He is still getting confused between 'd' and 'b' when writing so this has caused him some stress.

DD is in Year 6 at the same school and the policy used to be that they didn't get any sort of homework (except reading books) until Year 3. I much preferred that and think its so much better for the children.

My Y6 boys are using their KS2 curriculum knowledge to tackle GCSE (and, the other week, A level) problems, MerylStrop. It's keeping them pretty challenged and engaged... As ever, it really does depend on how the school and individual teachers decide to implement the curriculum.

Multivac, if not only all schools were doing that. Nothing like that coming Ds1's way.

Sorry to hear that Meryl. Could you ask them to take a look at the nrich project? (nrich.maths.org/frontpage)

Kesstrel interested in what you are saying re coding/decoding and other spelling my methods. Have expressed my concern re spellings. Politely. But would love to over a rationale/alternative based in something other than intuition and personal experience.

sending home lists of words to be tested are the choice of the school but it's easier to blame the new curriculum to new parents who don't know the school has been sending them home for years

www.nifdi.org/news-latest-2/blog-hempenstall/390-feel-like-a-spell

Mine have had spelling tests since Y1. Just 10 to learn, no penalties if they get them wrong.

Personally I prefer a little testing rather than the unstructured education I had in the 80's when it was really hit and miss.

Schools that teach spelling (without sending home lists to memorise ) still "test children's spelling ability.