Spelling tests or not in KS2?

[CeciliaMars]

We had an INSET today and the discussion of spelling tests came up. Some teachers seem to like them, some loathe them. We all agree that spelling needs to be taught, and parents seem to like spelling tests, but we're all aware that there is some research that shows spelling tests often don't help children to remember spellings longer-term. Has anyone's school moved away from the traditional spelling test method and found a decent alternative? Any advice appreciated.

I don't believe there's any value in spelling tests. As a child, I always got full marks in my spelling tests. I was a diligent learner who would practise every day. They never stuck though. By the following week, I'd forgotten the previous list and was unable to apply the spellings to my work.

As an adult, I'd be lost without a dictionary (well, spellcheck/autocorrect these days but you know what I mean). As a teacher, my poor spelling ability is a source of embarrassment for me. I really wish I'd been taught in a different way at school, with a bigger focus on rules and patterns, rather than simply being asked to learn a list.

thanks for your answer - I understand all the arguments against spelling tests. What I’m asking for is schools who have chosen to forgo spelling tests, what are you doing in its place and have you seen positive results?

No experience I'm afraid as it's not an age group I teach (EYFS - so far too young for spelling tests). I'm just sharing my own personal experience to explain why I agree with you. I hope you find something which works.

In our school we actually TEACH spellings instead of just giving them a list to learn and testing them. We have a 30min slot on our timetable every Monday and teach spellings, we follow the Purple Mash scheme. There’s a PowerPoint where they learn root words/patterns/meaning of words etc. We also do a lot of games and loads of other strategies to actually teach them. It works for us!

Our school does the spellings via patterns/roots/spelling rules. It works better than rote learning lists of words, the point is to recognise and reinforce common spelling patterns.

Thank you - is this in addition to spelling tests or instead of? At the moment we do both, not on a scheme. We have a spelling test, then teach the ones for the following week and then practise them in a fun way like a word search, crossword, silly sentences etc.

We do the teaching part with all the slides and games etc on a Monday, then there are 10 spellings off the back of it for them to learn. We then test them on a Friday but tbh take the test and its results with a pinch of salt as it’s more about the application in their written work that counts. The scheme is good for metacognition as well as it doesn’t just teach a set of words and move on, it goes back to certain tricky words through the year, which we find helpful!

Thank you