Spelling support is more useful to older pupils when it is connected to the words they need in science, history, geography, English and other subjects. Start with a recurring difficulty from current work, identify a strategy that fits it and apply that strategy to a small family of related words.

The aim is to help the pupil make a useful decision during writing, not to give them a different trick for every word.

Work out the error before choosing the strategy

Different difficulties need different responses.

Avoid giving a generic instruction to “sound it out” when morphology, meaning or an exception is the real issue.

Teach through current subject content

Choose two or three words that the pupil will soon need. For example, in science:

1. Display react, reaction, reactive and reactivity.

2. Mark the root react.

3. Identify what each suffix contributes.

4. Say and spell the words.

5. Use them in short subject sentences.

6. Ask the pupil to apply the same analysis during the next task.

In history, connect parliament, parliamentary and parliamentarian. In geography, connect urban, urbanise and urbanisation. The precise examples should come from the curriculum, not a generic spelling programme.

Reduce support step by step

Move from teaching to independent checking:

• model the word analysis and explain why it helps;

• analyse a second example together;

• give a targeted prompt during subject writing;

• ask the pupil to select a familiar strategy;

• reduce the prompt once they begin checking independently.

A discreet prompt might be, “What is the root?” or “Which suffix do you need?” Avoid a long spelling discussion in the middle of an extended answer.

Decide when to provide the spelling

Give the spelling when:

• the word is needed to express an important idea;

• the pupil has made a sensible attempt;

• further analysis would interrupt the task;

• the relevant pattern has not been taught;

• the pupil is recording fast-moving information.

Providing the word allows the curriculum task to continue. Add it to a subject journal later if it is important and likely to recur.

Support transfer across subjects

Where the same root or affix appears elsewhere, make the connection explicit. A pupil who understands trans in transport may later recognise it in transfer, transmit and transformation, while also learning that meaning and pronunciation can shift.

Use a shared language for common strategies across departments. The content remains subject-specific, but pupils should not have to learn a completely different checking routine in every classroom.

Include digital checking where appropriate

For longer typed work, spell-check can be one strategy alongside morphology and a subject glossary. Teach the pupil to read the whole sentence, compare suggestions and reread after selecting. A correctly spelt suggestion is not necessarily the intended word.

Official instructions are available for Microsoft Word and Google Docs, but pupils still need teaching in how to judge suggestions.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using long, decontextualised lists.

• Teaching several strategies at once.

• Explaining word origins without connecting them to spelling and meaning.

• Prompting a strategy the pupil has not learnt.

• Correcting every error during drafting.

• Assuming spell-check will select the right word.

• Using childish materials that do not match the pupil’s curriculum.

Evidence and further reading

The Education Endowment Foundation’s Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools emphasises disciplinary literacy and vocabulary across subjects. A systematic review and meta-analysis of morphological interventions examines the effects of teaching meaningful word parts on literacy outcomes. Its studies were with primary-aged pupils, so treat it as indirect evidence for Secondary.

Talamo has no commercial relationship with any of the organisations named here. We suggest them only because we think they could be useful to schools.