Here at St. Mary’s, we have subscribed to the Spelling Shed programme for children in years 2 to 6. The Spelling Shed helps children to practise spelling via both teacher-led lessons in school and homework activities, which are completed online.
Children can enjoy a range of activities at varying levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard and Extreme. Higher levels allow a higher score to be achieved, but children can practise as much as they like on lower levels before challenging themselves to the harder ones. The scores achieved give a league position and each class has its own combined league position within a school league as well as a world league.
As part of Spelling Shed, Hive assessments take place every week. This is a more interactive form of the traditional spelling test. Each week, class teachers set a list of words for children to practise and their progress will be monitored via the system. The expectation is that children log into the portal and practise their spellings at least three times a week. Frequency of participation is closely monitored and rewards are given, in the form of Dojos and Honeypots (points in Spelling Shed), for persistent users and their efforts.
