Peter Richardson, Deputy Headteacher

Name: Peter Richardson, Deputy Headteacher
School name: Walton-le-Dale Primary School
Which year groups have you used Rising Stars Spelling in? Across years 1-6, our whole school.
School background:
We are a two- form entry school with 450 children on roll. We are community primary school in a suburban area of South Ribble, Lancashire.
 
Why did you choose Rising Stars Spelling?
Spelling has been an issue for the school for several years. KS2 teachers would primarily ‘teach’ spelling through weekly spelling tests and little more. Phonics encapsulated spelling in KS1 but the children would frequently spell common exception words incorrectly. With the new curriculum, the need for a coherent package that still gave us flexibility in how we taught spelling was needed. And Rising Stars Spelling perfectly fitted that bill.
 
 
How are you using Rising Stars Spelling?
All KS2 classes are using it as our primary method of teaching spelling. KS1 classes are integrating it into their existing phonics lessons and within English lessons.
 
What are the benefits of Rising Stars Spelling?
 
Our English leader loves the resource. It gives a clear structure that we are already seeing the benefits of. She can easily monitor and support through lesson observation and examining work, rather than focusing on planning and timetabling spelling.
 
As a leadership team, we are already seeing an increase in the quality of our children’s spelling, both in half termly Rising Stars Progress Tests and within the children’s independent writing.
 
The key thing about Rising Stars Spelling is that the children enjoy it. They love the activities that the package provides and are always enthusiastic about the sessions; something we can’t say has always been the case. If they enjoy spelling and are involved in learning spelling rules, it’s not rocket science that they are going to develop their spelling at a greater speed than merely sitting down for an isolated test once a week.
 
Our teachers also love it. It delivers the ‘holy grail’ of giving the teacher back more time whilst also creating better quality resources and learning than would otherwise have been produced.
 
Would you recommend Rising Stars Spelling?
 
I would, without hesitation, recommend Rising Stars Spelling as THE Spelling resource for the 2014 National Curriculum.