I have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of curiosity, awe, and wonder in the early years classroom. These elements are not just beneficial; they are essential for fostering a love of learning and helping children develop a deeper understanding of the world around them.

The Educational Programme for Communication and Language in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework (2024) states that: ‘The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial.’

The EYFS Profile is the statutory assessment completed at the end of the academic year in which children turn five, usually reception year. Teachers must assess whether a child has met or not yet met the expected level of development for each of the 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs). The ELG for Communication and Language, Listening, Attention and Understanding states that: Children at the expected level of development will:

• Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments, and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions.
• Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding.
• Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers. (EYFS Profile Handbook 2024)

When speaking to colleagues in school, I often hear that ‘children don’t ask relevant questions.’ This makes me reflect on why this might be and consider how we can adjust our provision to encourage children to ask meaningful and relevant questions. I am confident that adults can create opportunities for curiosity, awe and wonder cost effectively without adding significantly to existing workload by thinking creatively about how young children learn.

The Power of Curiosity

Curiosity can be a powerful driving force behind learning. When children are curious, they are motivated to explore, ask questions, and seek out new knowledge. This natural inclination in the early years makes it the perfect time to nurture and encourage curiosity.

Consider

Natural objects

Create an area in the provision, a curiosity cube, or empty fish tank, with intriguing objects such as unusual rocks, shells, or plants. Change the items regularly to maintain interest and encourage children to ask questions about the new objects. Displays I have seen have included a collection of cactus plants. I did not want the children to touch them (for obvious reasons), but the conversations about the spines were fascinating.

Mystery boxes

Use mystery boxes filled with different objects that children can feel and guess what they are. This can spark curiosity and lead to discussions about the possibility of what the box contains and can lead to deep mathematical conversations about size and capacity. A mystery box also provides opportunities for children to mark make or write their ideas.

Exploration walks

Take children on nature walks regularly to collect interesting items. Back in the classroom, discuss what they found and encourage them to ask questions about their discoveries. You could decide on a criterion for collecting objects, such as colour, shape, or size.

Creating awe and wonder

Awe and wonder are emotions that can profoundly impact a child's learning experience. When children encounter something extraordinary, it can leave a lasting impression and inspire a sense of wonder about the world.

Practical ideas

Life cycle observations

Often the planned curriculum includes an opportunity each year to learn about a life cycle such as a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis or a plant growing from a seed. These experiences teach children about life cycles, growth, and change. Reflect on opportunities to gain experience of growing plants throughout the year; for example, cress is a fast-growing plant, whereas runner beans or sunflowers will take longer to emerge from the seed. Could children experience growing a different plant every term?

Historical artifacts

Introduce historical objects like old coins, typewriters, telephones or even VHS video tapes. Encourage children to decide on their purpose, origins and uses before providing the facts, which will spark wonder about different times and cultures.

Science experiments

Conduct simple science experiments that have a ‘wow’ factor, such as volcano eruptions with baking soda and vinegar, melting ice or chocolate. The process of cooking is a straightforward way of exploring scientific concepts and talking about the change of states. Experiments can prompt questions about how and why things happen.

Encouraging Questions and Conversations

The latest Ofsted research, Stronger Foundations in the First Years of School, found that ‘Sometimes adults give more attention to the confident and articulate children. This promotes their intellectual and social development at the expense of the minority who need the most support.’  When adults are conscious of this and plan for focused interactions with all children in the provision, opportunities to develop language skills, critical thinking, and social interactions will increase.

Practical ideas

Daily question

Have a ‘Question of the Day’ related to a story, object, latest news article or topic in the classroom. Encourage children to think about and discuss their answers with peers.

I wonder 

The use of the ‘I wonder’ sentence starter is a great way to instigate a conversation about the most random topic. For example, when discussing the fixed climbing equipment in the outdoor area, an adult could say, ‘I wonder what vehicle was used to bring the climbing frame to school’ or ‘I wonder what birds do when it rains.’

Interactive displays 

Create interactive displays linked to a story, theme, topic, or current interest of the class, where children can add their own questions and comments about the objects on display. I once set up a display and asked children to bring in a food wrapper or a box from home. All children could participate, and it was interesting to see children talk about having the same or similar packaging at their home.

Understanding the world and making connections

By exploring objects from nature and history, children gain a better understanding of the world around them. They learn about diverse cultures, communities, and the natural environment, which helps them develop empathy and respect for others.

Practical ideas

Cultural Celebrations

Celebrate diverse cultural festivals and traditions in the classroom. Use artefacts, food, and stories to help children understand and appreciate diverse cultures. Adults can make clear links between elements of the festivals, such as ‘I ate special food to celebrate Eid, and you ate special food to celebrate Christmas.’

Global Connections

Introduce children to global concepts through maps, globes, and stories from around the world. Encourage them to make connections between their own lives and those of children in other countries. Opportunities to research countries that children may have visited or where members of the extended family live, will ensure the learning is significant to the class.

Community Involvement

Invite community members to share their experiences and knowledge with the children. Consider asking parents/carers or governors to lend or talk about an interesting object. This helps children make connections between their classroom learning and the wider world.

Fostering curiosity, awe, and wonder in the early years classroom positively impacts children's cognitive, emotional, and social development. By encouraging children to explore and ask questions, we help them develop a lifelong love of learning and become more confident, independent thinkers.

The introduction of interesting objects can stimulate their curiosity, prompting children to ask questions and understand the world around them. This process helps children make connections to their own lives, fostering a sense of identity and belonging. Moreover, these interactions enhance their speaking and communication skills as they articulate their thoughts and engage in meaningful conversations with peers and adults.

If you implement any of the ideas described above, we would love to hear from you or even see a photograph.  Do get in touch at earlyyearsteam@hfleducation.org

In 2020, after extensive planning, developing and thorough trialling, the Primary English Team at HFL Education launched ESSENTIALSPELLING. This resource is a whole class approach to teaching spelling that enables all children to succeed, and gives teachers the unique tools to make that happen.  Five years on we are relaunching the product - refreshed and restocked. This blog looks back at the lessons we learned during our research - what makes an impactful spelling scheme? How do we ensure lessons build solid foundations in spelling, develop automaticity and fluency in transcription and leave no child behind? 

Writing is a complex skill involving the synthesis of multiple elements. The current primary cohort are still impacted by the disruption to their learning through the pandemic at a time when they were laying down foundational learning. These foundations should have been firmly embedded in the early stages of literacy- the cornerstone upon which to build more advanced knowledge and skills. Instead, for many children, building blocks are vulnerable and shaky, or even missing.  

Over the last couple of years, messaging from the DfE and Ofsted has consistently highlighted the need for a heightened focus on transcription skills. Put simply, transcription involves converting spoken language into a written form: namely handwriting and spelling. This contrasts with the creative skills of composition. Transcriptional skills form the vital core of foundational learning in writing and a child who struggles to encode their taught graphemes, form their letters accurately, or even hold a pencil comfortably, will have little headspace for creative ideas. Conversely, the more fluent a child becomes in spelling and handwriting, the more they are then cognitively liberated to focus on their composition.  By supporting children to strengthen their spelling skills and build automaticity in this area, we can have a positive impact on their writing attainment.  

With this in mind, leaders will no doubt be looking to raise the profile of spelling across their school and evaluating the effectiveness of resources and schemes already in place. A one-size-fits-all approach is rarely the answer.  

As a class teacher, I would always find it challenging to include the varied needs of all thirty writers within a single lesson: spelling confidence varied hugely no matter which age group I was teaching. As an adviser - even before the legacy of Covid - I could see other teachers dealing with the same issue. The answer, in many cases, was to remove groups of children for phonics and spelling interventions that rarely seemed to close the learning gap. In fact, especially when administered during class spelling lessons, such interventions typically exacerbated the problem. An additional concern for teachers was that spelling schemes seemed to focus on end of year or phase expectations and there was no support to tailor materials at other points of the year or phase.  

In 2018, my colleague Sabrina and I began working with teachers on a spelling intervention project - Spelling SOS. Through analysis of reams of children’s writing, we had noticed that similar issues occurred universally from Y3 to Y6 and seemed to be preventing children from moving on in their orthographic understanding. We supported KS2 teachers to identify and target specific gaps in children’s spelling knowledge, prioritise the areas that would generate the greatest impact and work through a systematic programme of study with these children. The outcomes for each spelling cohort were superb. What teachers told us each time was that they wished they had a resource that could support the rest of their class in this way! This made us realise that -detailed though it was - the spelling programme of study in ‘Curriculum 2014’ was not addressing the needs of all children. Could there be another way? 

ESSENTIALSPELLING was designed to answer the questions and address the concerns that teachers typically have about spelling. Phonology, morphology and etymology are woven into a progression of lessons that systematically build on prior learning, support pupils to make connections with existing knowledge and develop strategies that will help them grow their spelling competence.  Pupils are encouraged to articulate their learning throughout the sequence. It is through explaining what they have learnt about the patterns and processes of spelling that they will improve their ability to spell accurately.  

Schools implementing ESSENTIALSPELLING’s approach see swift impact on children’s confidence in spelling. Here’s what one school, who have used it consistently over the last five years has to say about it: 

What can we learn from the ESSENTIALSPELLING approach?  

This spelling resource is different to other spelling schemes. It focuses on the pedagogy of spelling so that children understand how to apply patterns, strategies and knowledge to any words they meet. It empowers children to build words - they are shown how to become spellers for life, rather than remember spellings for a week. Teachers feel similarly empowered - rather than delivering spelling via a sequence of slides, they gain the knowledge and skills to instruct and advise on spelling - adapting, modelling and exploring alongside the children.  

So how do you do that?  

Each learning objective is taught as a flexible series of lessons following the teaching sequence for phonics and spelling of Review, Teach, Practise and Apply. ESSENTIALSPELLING’s approach could be applied to any spelling curriculum or used to enhance any scheme being used.  

Review prior learning 

Build in time to review learning before beginning any teaching sequence for spelling. This is not ‘what did we learn last week?’ but instead: ‘What do we already know that might help us to spell words with a similar pattern or theme?’ Track back through the curriculum to find linked learning that will reignite children’s prior knowledge. A review session is imperative because it gives teachers an opportunity for assessment for learning and gives pupils the chance to build connections between existing knowledge and new knowledge.  

Reviewing prior learning goes way beyond the consideration of ‘what do we already know about this spelling pattern’. The national curriculum clearly states that all year groups should have the opportunity to revisit learning from previous year groups. Any spelling scheme should therefore include plenty of sequences dedicated to just that. The alternative is to expect children to remember concepts such as: split vowel digraphs from Year 1; the pluralisation of words ending in ‘y’ from Year 2 or the various prefixes from Years 3/4. Generally, the earlier a spelling pattern is taught, the higher its relevance and frequency in children’s writing.  

If you were in any doubt as to the ‘why’ of reteaching, a swift analysis of the end of Year 6 spelling assessment will demonstrate how a scheme that tracks back to previous year group teaching benefits its pupils. Here is an analysis of this year’s paper:

Teach and model new learning  

The teach part of the sequence is vital but often underdeveloped, especially in KS2. Just as the SSP schemes teach children about the new grapheme being taught and how it combines with other graphemes to build words, spelling lessons need to teach children about the spelling pattern and how to build target words. Any teaching resource used in the classroom needs to provide essential subject knowledge that will support teachers to fully understand and explain the learning behind the lesson.  

Practice 

The practising stage of a sequence should provide straightforward activities that can be undertaken independently by children during the lesson or even at home. The emphasis here is on exploration and word building, rather than rehearsing a prescribed list of words. Games and activities designed to practise spelling should never form the mainstay of a spelling sequence. Practice can only reinforce what has been taught. 

Application 

The apply stage of a spelling sequence should involve children discussing their learning and articulating their spelling knowledge. Testing of individual words may be meaningless unless children are supported to consolidate spellings from short term memory into long term memory. Rather than memorising a few individual words, children should be encouraged to learn a pattern or spelling convention that would empower them to unlock many more similar words. Dictation -a statutory requirement of the national curriculum - is a hugely effective way of children applying their knowledge in context and this reinforcing understanding. Of course, the application of spelling goes way beyond a spelling lesson and children should be challenged to choose and use words independently and monitor their accuracy.  

Wherever possible, all children should take part in these parts of the sequence regardless of prior spelling attainment. The Review section of a lesson will track back to prior learning and the Teach section introduces new learning as well as strategies for tackling spelling. Unless children are supported towards age-related spellings, their attainment gap in spelling will grow wider. Rather than offer alternative objectives to children who have fallen behind, make adaptations to scaffold learning or reinforce linked learning. The Practise and Apply sections give children the opportunity to rehearse spelling patterns and use them in context, but learning can be personalised to meet the needs of each learner. Where gaps are more significant and overlearning is necessary, children should receive an intervention in addition to - and not instead of - the class spelling lesson. 

If you want a resource that has plotted all that in for you, do explore ESSENTIALSPELLING and see what you think. You can download free samples from our ESSENTIALSPELLING page. 

The complete resource features a year’s worth of teaching sequences for each year group; all inter-related and all following on in logical progression. A key strength of the scheme is, I believe, the fluid nature of it, rather than being a ‘one-size fits all’ approach.  

ESSENTIALSPELLING embeds opportunities for assessment for learning at every turn, so it is as much a diagnostic tool as anything else, helping teachers to identify gaps in learning and enabling them to rapidly fill those gaps and rebuild children’s confidence. Every sequence shows teachers how to support the children who have small gaps in their previous learning - as well as those who have not secured the foundations needed for any given sequence - without the need for removing children from the class lesson and without the requirement of additional adult support.  

Children are encouraged to explore words and their meanings; they have agency over their learning and their curiosity is harnessed. Above all, ESSENTIALSPELLING is designed to put the joy of teaching and learning spelling back into the classroom! 

Year group 2 booklet costs £90. Year group booklet for years 4, 5 and 6 costs £70 (or £300 for the set of all year groups). (exc. VAT)

Once again, we are running some training events to help you get the most out of the resources. The training dates for ESSENTIALSPELLING are as follows: 

ESSENTIALSPELLING in Year 2: 7th October 2025 
ESSENTIALSPELLING in Years 3 and 4: 14th October 2025 
ESSENTIALSPELLING in Years 5 and 6: 20th October 2025 

You can book on the HFL Education Hub 

Each training event begins with a pre-recorded video that lasts one and a half hours and can be watched at a time to suit you. This session leads you through the fundamentals of phonics and spelling and provides an introduction to ESSENTIALSPELLING. Delegates are encouraged to carry out some short gap tasks to familiarise them with the book and other useful resources. During the subsequent live webinar, we show you how to use the scheme to meet the needs of your individual learners, and adapt teaching to the pupils in your classes. We will also answer any questions you might have. All sessions will be recorded for delegates to access for the remainder of the academic year. 

If this all sounds like something you’ve been looking for, and you want to hit the ground running in September when it comes to spelling, then I hope to see you at one of our sessions.