Spring Term Spelling Assessment Term 1 and Progress Tests Guidance

The KS2Gems 2022 Spring Term Spelling Assessment and Progress Tests for Year 4 are comprehensive tools designed to evaluate students' spelling proficiency at the beginning of the term and monitor their progress throughout. The pack includes guidance notes, an assessment for Term 1, two progress tests with teacher versions, and an analysis grid to pinpoint areas where students may need further assistance. The initial assessment is to be administered at the start of the Spring Term, followed by the first progress test after weeks 2 to 6 of the Y4 Spelling Programme, and the second progress test after weeks 8 to 11. This structured approach ensures that the spelling programme, which spans 12 weeks, is flexible enough to accommodate additional review time if necessary.

Administering the test involves a clear briefing to students about the procedures, such as writing their name on the answer booklet and handling changes to their answers. The test, which takes approximately 15 minutes, includes reading sentences with missing words that the students must spell correctly. Teachers are advised to give a 12-second gap between spellings and repeat the target words if required, without overly emphasising them. Marking is straightforward: one mark for a correct spelling and none for an incorrect one. Marks are awarded regardless of case, except for days of the week which require an initial capital. Marks are not awarded for answers with inserted apostrophes or hyphens, divided components, or ambiguous reversed letters. Crossed-out answers that are not replaced are also not awarded marks. This meticulous approach to testing and marking ensures a fair assessment of each student's spelling abilities.