Year 4 Spelling Yearly Overview and Rationale
This Year 4 spelling yearly overview and rationale provides a structured sequence of weekly spelling lists aligned with the National Curriculum and our Spectacular SPaG scheme. Each half term includes five weeks of new spellings and one consolidation week for review and assessment.
The lists are tailored for Year 4 pupils and follow the DfE spelling appendix for this year group. Weekly focuses include -sion, -ssion, -cian, plurals, possessive apostrophes, -ture and -sure endings, sc, ei/ey patterns, gu spellings, and suffixes such as -ly, -ous and -ation. Words from the Year 3 and 4 statutory list are also interwoven throughout the year.
The rationale includes guidance for introducing weekly lists, using ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’ activities, and practising with dictation and handwriting tasks in precursive and cursive styles. It also outlines ways to support pupils who may need additional practice or adapted testing approaches.
This overview complements the Spectacular SPaG scheme but can also be used independently to plan a full year of spelling teaching in Year 4.
