Have you seen ‘The Writing Framework’ (2025) as published this week? Politics aside, from an SpLD assessment point of view, it is good to see that alongside phonics, and due to the complex nature of our writing system “this can be supported if pupils know letter pattern conventions (orthography), the units of meaning in words (morphology) and (to a more limited extent) the origins of words (etymology), all strengthened by their exposure to words in their reading” (Page 42). The guidance recommends developing this knowledge and reinforces what we need to explain and include in our SpLD assessments.
This is not new to us, but I was thinking that it supports our recommendations for ‘specialist support and intervention’ or ‘targeted recommendations’, such as the use of ‘morphology matrices.’
Potential recommendations
- Alongside a multisensory, cumulative, structured phonics programme, use morphology: the structure and construction of words, which assists with reading and spelling and helps develop orthographic skills, (skills recommended in the ‘The Writing Framework’ July 2025). e.g. Louise Selby, Morph Mastery: https://louiseselbydyslexia.com/morph-mastery/
- ‘Spelling Shed’ (useful for parents and schools) is designed to help students improve their spelling through structured games and practice and uses orthography and morphology matrices, that is understanding and learning how to combine prefixes, roots and suffixes to support spelling and comprehension- https://www.spellingshed.com/en-gb/
- What are your thoughts? How can we use this to tailor our recommendations to the needs of the individual assessed?
