Spelling, Punctuation and

Grammar (SPaG)

Parent Meeting

Session Outcomes

• To understand some of the key

terminology associated with SPaG

• To know how you can help your child

at home

• To understand how we approach

SPaG at school

School’s journey

• Professional development

– Research

– Performance management

– Observations

– Collaborative planning

– Coaching

– Resources

Rolled out across Y3-5 (followed by Y6)

Staff meeting to introduce to all staff

Parent questionnaires-really positive feedback

Year 4 trial of a new approach (based on an effective

model)

Pupil questionnaires suggested a lack of self-esteem

Parent questionnaires suggested a need for improved consistency

New National Curriculum-HEIGHTENED PRIORITY

Objectives split up amongst LKS2 and UKS2

DJS Spelling Journey to Date…

Spelling System at DJS

Fortnightly cycle:

• Rule introduced, grid sent home with emphasis on

the learning objective

• Personalised list developed

• Teaching

• Home learning

• Working wall

• Informal test

Word lists for each year

group

Spelling Zapper for

individual spelling misconceptions

Partnership between

school and home

Fortnightly system:

One rule for all but with a personalised approach

E.g. 7/7!

Evidence: -Games

-Mnemonic posters e.g. ight endings

‘I’ve Got Hairy Toes’

PRAISE

What do your

children think?

Punctuation coverage…

Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

REVISION OF Y2 OBJECTIVES PLUS: Introduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speech.

Use of inverted commas

and other punctuation to

indicate direct speech e.g.

a comma after the

reporting clause; end

punctuation within

inverted commas (e.g. The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”)

Apostrophes to mark

singular and plural

possession (e.g. the girl’s name, the girls’ names)

Use of commas after

fronted adverbials

Brackets, dashes or

commas to indicate

parenthesis

Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity

Use of the semi-colon,

colon and dash to mark

the boundary between

independent clauses (e.g.

It’s raining; I’m fed up)

Use of the colon to

introduce a list

Punctuation of bullet

points to list information

How hyphens can be used to avoid ambiguity (e.g. man eating shark versus man-eating shark, or recover versus re-cover)

Y3 Punctuation coverage… Introduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speech.

Y4 Punctuation coverage… Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech

Y4 Punctuation coverage… Apostrophes to mark singular and plural possession

Y4 Punctuation coverage… Use of commas after fronted adverbials

Y5 Punctuation coverage… Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis

Y5 Punctuation coverage… Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis

Y5 Punctuation coverage… Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity

Y6 Punctuation coverage… Use of the semi-colon, colon and dash to mark

the boundary between independent clauses

Y6 Punctuation coverage… Use of the colon to introduce a list

The clubs at school are: art and craft, dance and chess. x

Y6 Punctuation coverage… How hyphens can be used to avoid ambiguity

Grammar

• Terminology – new & tricky!

• End of year group expectations

• An example of our approach in Y3

• Tiny Tap – Y6

How confident are you at using the

present perfect form of verbs?

Present perfect or simple past

tense verbs?

Does the verb refer to a past or a

continuing activity, that started in the

past?

Continued to happen

Y3 SPaG Bootcamp

• What is it? – short, sharp,

physical, & fun – everything

has an action!

• Why do it? – engaging,

outside, teamwork

Y3 SPaG Bootcamp

Y3 – SPaG Bootcamp

Apply it to their writing

Reflecting on learning

Y6 approach

• ICT

• iPads

• Creating

• Playing

SATs

• The SPaG test at the end of KS2

comprises of two parts:

– Spelling test: 20 spellings taken from the

different spelling rules covered in Y3 – Y6

as well as from the Y3/4 and Y5/6 spelling

lists.

– Question paper: Between 45 – 49

questions in 45 minutes. Covers grammar

and punctuation from Y3 – Y6.

Spelling Test

Spelling Test

Question Paper The questions vary in difficulty and differ in how they need to be

answered; some are multiple choice and some need a

sentence or phrase writing.

Question Paper They need to understand the correct terminology – in this case

prefixes.

Question Paper In this example the children would need to know what a pronoun

is and then be able to identify them in the sentence.

Question Paper

Question Paper This one involves writing a sentence which must be

punctuated correctly to gain the mark.

Question Paper

Ways to help your child at home

• Use the correct terminology when discussing any home learning that they are doing.

• Get them to explain what they have been learning in their SPaG lessons and teach you!

• When writing, ensure they apply what they have learned – capital letters and full stops right through to the subjunctive and relative clauses!

Ways to help your child at home

• Collins-connect website – look out for

passwords coming home soon and

encourage children to use the

website.

• BBC Bitesize

• Spellzone

• Woodlands Junior

• Topmarks

All helpful

websites for

revision and

playing games

related to

different SPaG

objectives.