Spellings is something a lot of pupils find difficult. It was only after I trained as a teacher that I realised how irregular the English language can be! Improving spelling is all about accepting that there are not always hard, fast rules and instead realising that sometimes the only way to improve is by sheer practice. See below for some tips on how to make spelling a little easier.

1. Look, Cover, Check. Look at the word, write it out and then check if you got it right. This only works if you can do it frequently enough to get the spelling into your head.

2. Mnemomics. Finding silly rhymes to remember difficult words, e.g. Never Eat Cake Eat Salad Sandwiches And Remain Young spells necessary. Do they work? Well I was taught that about 15 years ago so they must stick in your head!! This is often a good way to remember words that are a little bit more tricky and don't follow the usual rules.

3. Understanding the logics. There are lots of rules that can make spelling easier. For example the 'ing' rule.  if there is a short vowel sound in the word e.g. 'hop' you need to double the last letter when adding 'ing,' so 'hop' becomes 'hopping', This rule can be applied to most words.

4. Practice makes perfect! This isn't about spelling tests every day but pupils writing at every opportunity they can, using as many high frequency words as they can.

5. Finally, recognising weaknesses. There is light at the end of the tunnel!  Spelling at GCSE is becoming less important and pupils can achieve high grades without being perfect spellers!