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Spellzone

Spellzone

4.5/5

Spellzone

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What is Spellzone?

Spellzone has three main components: The Spelling Ability Test, a complete spelling course and 1000's of word lists.

The Spelling Ability Test identifies any gaps in student knowledge. It provides students with baseline scores and individual learning pathways indicating which course units should be studied. Automatic retesting keeps them on track with little intervention.

The phonics-based course covers all the English spelling rules and their exceptions with a high level of teaching, practice and revision using definitions, sentence context learning tips and multi-sensory spelling activities. Basic concepts taught include vowels, consonants, syllables, prefixes, and suffixes. Students are tested in different ways throughout the course.

Structured access to word lists makes Spellzone ideal for dyslexic and ESL students. Word lists are translatable into 92 languages and can be used with spelling activities and word games or printed as off-line resources including handwriting worksheets.

Teachers can create their own subject specific word lists. These can be set as classroom or homework tasks for individual learners or whole classes. Perfect for weekly spellings or exam preparation!

Spellzone logs all student activity in real time. Teachers can view and download a variety of reports to evaluate student success.

Recommended Usage

20 - 30 minutes per week or 10 minutes per day.

Educational Impact

build student knowledge
83%
reduce teacher workload
82%
improve attainment
77%
reduce attainment gap
74%
provide school data
70%

Additional evidence

Jun 2019

Critical analysis – a research paper on a multi-sensory approach to supporting spelling for students with Dyslexia.

Dec 2023

Bishopston Comprehensive School, KS3 - KS4: Results show the average pupil gaining a 6-month to 18-month improvement in their skillset from using Spellzone.

Jan 2024

Read for Life, Uganda: The dynamic nature of the Spellzone allowed trainers to work at their own pace while practising the pronunciation of words and getting to grips with English spelling rules.

Jan 2019

Casterton College: Students often increase their standardised scores by up to 18 months.

Apr 2024

St. Barnabas MAT: Buzzing with Success: Spellzone Collaborates with MAT for Spelling Bee Triumph

CompanyBusiness Name: Spellzone Limited
HQ Location: United Kingdom
Founded: 2001
Age Range5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16, 17-18, 19+
FeaturesPlacement Tests Base Line ScoresCustom Learning PathwaysSpelling CourseWord ListsSpelling ListsHomeworkTask CreationPhonics BasedAdaptive LearningFully AccessibleWord List CreationResource CreationWorksheet CreationReal-time ReportingHandwriting WorksheetsFunctional Skills In English Word ListsTier 1 And 2 Word ListsKs3 Subject Spelling ListsAutomatic Re-testingMapped To The National Curriculum In EnglandGcse Study ListsSpag Resources
LanguagesEnglish
AccessibilityRobust features
PoliciesTerms of ServicePrivacy PolicyGDPR
RequirementsInternet - Low BandwidthInternet - High BandwidthDesktop - MacDesktop - WindowsDesktop - ChromebookDesktop - LinuxMobile - iPhoneMobile - iPadMobile - WindowsMobile - Android

Spellzone is a browser-based on-line resource and can be used on any internet connected PC, laptop or mobile device. There is nothing to download or install. For best performance, we recommend the Google Chrome browser. Students and staff require usernames and passwords to access Spellzone. Students can be quickly added manually, by .csv upload or by Wonde Sync.

Set Up

Student and staff logins can be created immediately after sign up.

TrainingLive OnlineDocumentation

Spellzone is easy for students to navigate independently. We provide free on-line training for teachers. Step-by-step guides and a guide for parents are also available to download.

SupportEmailFAQs/ForumPhone Support

We provide free online training sessions for schools during which we run through all of the features and answer any questions.

Home LearningParent Access

Anyone can create the account.

Students can access Spellzone on home computers and mobile devices.
If a school does not use Spellzone, parents can create a family account.

Tagsspellingspelling rulesEnglish spellingword listsspelling listsspelling testsspelling programmespelling beephonicsdictionaryhomophonesdyslexiaSENDEFLTEFLESLSPaG

Spellzone Pricing


Pricing Plans

Free TrialPaid Subscription

Spellzone pricing starts from £0.3 / per-pupil

Examples of our price bands are as follows:

20 students £149

30 students £179

40 students £199

50 students £219

100 students £289

150 students £319

200 students £339

500 students £449

1000 students £599

2000 students £799

All prices exclude VAT

Save money with a multi-school Spellzone subscription:

If you would like to trial or purchase Spellzone for your academy trust or school district we'll arrange everything for you, from creating school accounts to setting up multi-school league tables.

Please contact us for further information and price options.

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Spellzone Reviews

4.5 out of 5

from 38 Verified Reviews

Spellzone has collected 1 review in the past 6 months

User rating

Excellent
26
Great
11
Average
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Spellzone
Pamela Foster

Teacher

Highland Council Headquarters, Scotland

Used Spellzone daily for 3-4 years

Sep 2024

Its ease of use and the children enjoy the games and competition.

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for taking the time to post such a positive review Pamela. We are very happy to hear that the children are enjoying Spellzone!
Pamela Foster found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    Spellzone creates worksheets, assessing the children and giving useful feedback. Plus I use it for spelling homework and individualised work.
  • Slightly reduces attainment gap
    It is useful for children with dyslexia as it can read out the words.
  • Moderately provides school data
    Useful for confirming teacher judgement and looking for any gaps in knowledge.
  • Moderately improves attainment
    NA
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Improving grammar and increasing vocabulary
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Becky Vignoles

HLTA & Literacy Co-ordinator

Waddesdon Church of England Secondary, England

Used Spellzone weekly for 3-4 years

May 2024

Very happy with our use of Spellzone and would like to continue developing the ways in which we use it, particularly with our Year 7 & 8 pupils.

Reply from Spellzone:Your positive review is much appreciated Becky. Please book a free online training session during which we can discuss your current use of Spellzone and advise on developing its use further.
Becky Vignoles found Spellzone:
  • Slightly reduces teacher workload
    Made it easier to measure and track spelling progress than our previous paper-based system
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    I don't have data to prove Spellzone's specific impact, but it has definitely helped us support our students' literacy since the first lockdown.
  • Moderately provides school data
  • Moderately improves attainment
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
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Rachel Johnson

Class teacher and phase leader

St George's British International School, Italy

Used Spellzone daily for 4-6 months

Apr 2024

A great resource, but it is a challenge to navigate the site, so convincing staff to use it will be a challenge.

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for taking the time to submit your review, Rachel. You can use the search facility on the Word List page to help you find a word list and the four green tabs provide access to curriculum lists, vocabulary lists, Spellzone course lists, and also lists created by other schools. We provide free online training to help you and your colleagues to get the most out of Spellzone and you can book a session at any time by following the link on your Admin home page.
Rachel Johnson found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    Very easy to create spelling lists, not so easy to find ready made ones.
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    Spelling has generally improved.
  • Significantly provides school data
    We use it within the phase, but it is not included in whole school data.
  • Moderately improves attainment
    Mentioned above
  • Significantly builds student knowledge
    Through the repeated activities
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Sue Damon

Program Coordinator

The Literacy Group of Waterloo Region, Canada

Used Spellzone occasionally for 4-6 months

Apr 2024

So far, so good!

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for your review, Sue. Please feel free to book an online session at any time if you require assistance when evaluating your students' progress.
Sue Damon found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
  • Slightly reduces attainment gap
    Haven't used it long enough yet to know...
  • Slightly provides school data
    Too early to tell
  • Slightly improves attainment
    Hoping to know soon!
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Students are reporting the program is helpful
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Kiel Leaning

Year 4 Teacher

Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong, China

Used Spellzone daily for 1-2 years

Feb 2024

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for your feed-back Kiel. The Spelling Ability Test is a criterion-referenced test and designed to measure how well the students have mastered the Spellzone course material. We are unable to provide a spelling age as this would require a norm-referenced standardised test which measures how an individual does relative to other people who have taken the test. This would depend on us having control over the specific conditions that each test is taken and we also need to consider what support is being provided to each individual student, especially those working independently. Being an on-line course, it is not possible for us to do this. Many schools use a variety of standardised tests and run Spellzone alongside as a structured spelling intervention, for example see the Casterton College case study on our EdTech Impact profile.
Kiel Leaning found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
  • Slightly reduces attainment gap
    Unable to know what their spelling age is form the spelling and ability tests.
  • Slightly provides school data
  • Slightly improves attainment
  • Significantly builds student knowledge
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Helen Trahar

ESO

Dunkeld Consolidated School, Australia

Used Spellzone monthly for 5 years+

Feb 2024

I sure it is a great program however there is set criteria and just don’t fit it in. I use it.

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for your review, Helen. Spellzone is designed to be very flexible to meet the requirements of both students and teachers. As you have not added any students and have only used the printable worksheets, you have yet to explore Spellzone’s extensive resources and its full potential to support students and teachers. Spellzone differentiates and provides personal learning pathways through the Spellzone course for each student. The automatic re-testing keeps each of them on track enabling them to work independently. We recommend 20 to 30 minutes per week or 10 minutes per day in school, at home or a mix. Remember that Spellzone word lists, including those created by you, can also be used online with a wide range of activities and games. Please let us know if you would like to add some students and try the above, we would be more than happy to help!
Helen Trahar found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    Word searches and adding spelling words to complete sentences.
  • Does not significantly reduce attainment gap
    School is so busy find it hard to get time for children to use it
  • Does not provide school data
  • Does not significantly improve attainment
    Look to be honest I get the use out of it and print sheets off for spelling.
  • Does not significantly build student knowledge
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Cindy Van Ingen-Kal

Year 7 Teacher

KingsWay School - Senior Campus, New Zealand

Used Spellzone weekly for 1-2 years

Feb 2024

love it

Reply from Spellzone:We really appreciate your positive comments Cindy - thanks for taking the time. It is good to hear that Spellzone is helping to reduce your workload while your students are being challenged!
Cindy Van Ingen-Kal found Spellzone:
  • Significantly reduces teacher workload
    I do not have to set spelling homework
  • Significantly reduces attainment gap
    The assessment ascertains gaps and then sets programme
  • Slightly provides school data
    some what
  • Moderately improves attainment
    Students love working online
  • Significantly builds student knowledge
    Kids love the challenge of spell zone
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Kirsty Puke

Teacher

Tokoroa Intermediate School, New Zealand

Used Spellzone weekly for 7–12 months

Jan 2024

Children enjoy using the site - user friendly and progress is made.

Reply from Spellzone:Your positive review is much appreciated Kirsty. We are very pleased to hear that your students are making good progress!
Kirsty Puke found Spellzone:
  • Significantly reduces teacher workload
    It provides a multilevel spelling programme that caters for specific needs . The time and work that goes into doing this in classroom with so many different abilities is reduced significantly.
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    End of year school testing showed over half the class had made excellent progress
  • Moderately provides school data
    End of Year Spelling Test scores showed good progress
  • Moderately improves attainment
  • Significantly builds student knowledge
    Increases vocabulary knowledge, and correct pronunciation of words
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Lisa McNaughton

Head of English

Morrison's Academy, Scotland

Used Spellzone weekly for 3-4 years

Nov 2023

It is expensive. I’d recommend to people who work in the private sector

Reply from Spellzone:Many thanks for your review Lisa. We are aware of budget constraints facing schools and aim to make Spellzone as affordable as possible. Your two-year subscription package works out at £1.00 per student per year which is comparable to similar resources. Unlimited staff accounts, training, support and upgrades are included. Please contact us to arrange a free training session to find out more about how to get the most out of Spellzone.
Lisa McNaughton found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    Individual spelling programmes are organised for us
  • Does not significantly reduce attainment gap
    It depends on the engagement
  • Does not significantly provide school data
    We use it for reporting in English
  • Moderately improves attainment
    Accuracy in spelling and developing vocab
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Vocabulary and using language in context
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Kait Conway

English Teacher

Taunton School International Middle School, England

Used Spellzone weekly for 1-2 years

Nov 2023

It is an excellent resource. However, sometimes the accents/pronunciation of the words are difficult to hear.

Reply from Spellzone:Many thanks for your feed-back Kait, it is much appreciated. Spellzone utilises browser-based synthetic speech technology for the word lists (other course related audio is recorded by actors). This technology enables users to have instant access to the on-line spelling activities and games using words lists created by them on any subject or difficulty. We recommend using the Google Chrome browser as this provides the best speech synthesis.
Kait Conway found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    Students are able to work independently and it can be differentiated.
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    I use it to support those who find it easier to learn whole words (particularly everyday non-phonetically spelled words)
  • Moderately provides school data
    We are able to identify those who need help more easily.
  • Moderately improves attainment
    Students who engage fully with the program show marked improvement in their spelling - particularly those with dyslexia or suspected dyslexia.
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Students are able to extrapolate spelling rules and anomalies.
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LH

Head of Learning Support

St Margaret’s School for Girls, Scotland

Used Spellzone daily for 5 years+

Oct 2023

I think it's an excellent program when used regularly it makes a difference

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for your positive review. We are very pleased to hear that Spellzone is helping to make a difference. A regular 20-30 minutes per week or 10 minutes per day is our recommended use.
LH found Spellzone:
  • Significantly reduces teacher workload
    Word lists, focus on phonics, resources are all right there and easy to use
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    When used regularly it does have an impact and we see a difference in pupils
  • Significantly provides school data
    Used to give feedback to the pupils, to the staff and to the parents at Parents' Evenings. Good to check progress
  • Moderately improves attainment
    Pupils who use it regularly find that their literacy skills improve.
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Aids comprehension
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Marina Caffrey

SEN Teacher

Used Spellzone weekly for 5 years+

Jul 2023

Pupils need to fully understand what they have read. However there is sometimes too much writing on one page and they move straight to the activity rather than read what the purpose is.

Reply from Spellzone:Many thanks for taking time to submit your review Marina. We are constantly working to improve Spellzone and your observations are very helpful.
Marina Caffrey found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
  • Slightly provides school data
  • Moderately improves attainment
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
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Sarah Webb

Assistant Head

Used Spellzone weekly for 5 years+

Jul 2023

A useful, accessible resource.

Reply from Spellzone:Your review is much appreciated Sarah. We are very happy to hear that Spellzone is helping to reduce your workload!
Sarah Webb found Spellzone:
  • Significantly reduces teacher workload
    Once I have the spelling lists on, they are there for the future and lots of work is linked to it for the children to do.
  • Significantly reduces attainment gap
    It gives all children opportunity to access and learn in the styles that suit the. It can be accessed from home for homework too.
  • Slightly provides school data
  • Significantly improves attainment
    The opportunity to practice and access their spellings
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
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Terrie

Senior HLTA

Used Spellzone daily for 3-4 years

Jul 2023

Can be really efficient and works well, but have had a few problems with students being prompted to take same activities already scored 100% in.

Reply from Spellzone:Many thanks for taking the time to leave your review Terrie. If a student makes similar errors in a Spelling Ability Test, they may be assigned units already completed as part of their learning pathway (Course Pathway). This is designed to help secure their learning. Course Pathways can be edited if required. We will email you with some further information about this.
Terrie found Spellzone:
  • Slightly reduces teacher workload
    Checking activities completed and duration of activities explored
  • Significantly reduces attainment gap
    Spelling is more confident and will attempt unfamiliar words in writing increasing vocabulary
  • Significantly provides school data
    Can identify weak spellers and comprehension levels
  • Slightly improves attainment
    Confidence in trying new things
  • Significantly builds student knowledge
    Using a variety of vocabulary in writing.
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Wendy

Principal Teacher

George Watson's College (Junior school), Scotland

Used Spellzone daily for 5 years+

Jul 2023

There's lots about it that is great. The freedom to create adapted lists of words for pupils to investigate that links to our curriculum is very useful. The personal pathway is brilliant but I think is reliant on the pupils being supported by an adult when working on their pathway. It's too easy for them to skip the content without engaging in the practice unless they are being supported by a teacher/teaching assistant.

Reply from Spellzone:Many thanks for your valuable feed-back Wendy. The 'Learn the Words' practice activities are now mandatory prior to students completing a spelling course test. The default is one activity per related course word list; however, this can be changed in the Account settings. Please contact us if you require any further information or support with this.
Wendy found Spellzone:
  • Slightly reduces teacher workload
    I feel we view Spellzone as an additional tool that we can use to support spelling
  • Significantly reduces attainment gap
    Some pupils are hugely motivated and if supported well at home too, they can make huge strides in their personal pathway.
  • Significantly provides school data
    We can compare it to other standardised testing and advise pupils/parents/other staff
  • Significantly improves attainment
    If pupils are motivated and well supported using their pathway, it has an impact.
  • Significantly builds student knowledge
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Mrs Moral

Academic Mentor for Reading

Oakmoor school, England

Used Spellzone daily for 4-6 months

Jun 2023

It's easy to set up, measure impact and follow up on what each student is doing. The extra tools are dyslexia friendly. The multiplayers option is great to keep the engagement.

Reply from Spellzone:Many thanks for your very positive comments Mrs Moral!
Mrs Moral found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    The data is very easy to collect and compare with the English curriculum.
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    Dyslexic students have the tools incorporated to access their work. Also the variety of activities helps the attainment based on their personal skills.
  • Significantly provides school data
    We use it for intervention and it's very easy to check the impact.
  • Moderately improves attainment
    Students who have been using Spellzone for about 3 months, say they feel more confident when writing.
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Some students didn't even know the vowels! EAL students weren't aware of short vowel and long vowel sounds.
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Rosemary

SEN Teacher

Oakmoor School GU35 0JB, England

Used Spellzone daily for 3-4 years

Jun 2023

My score of eight is due to not all students learn by repetition and working on screen some prefer interaction with an adult.

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for your review Rosemary. Please remember that all Spellzone word lists (including those created by you) can also be printed for off-line use.
Rosemary found Spellzone:
  • Significantly reduces teacher workload
    Saves finding different worksheets for students who are at different stages in spelling
  • Significantly reduces attainment gap
    Students taking the spelling test after eight parts of Spellzone completed show a significant improvement and also on any whole school testing shows improvement too.
  • Slightly provides school data
  • Significantly improves attainment
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Students know vowel sounds and letter order.
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Lisa

Teacher Aide

Aokautere School, New Zealand

Used Spellzone daily for 1-2 years

Jun 2023

Too many certificates

Reply from Spellzone:Thanks for your feed-back Lisa. It is good hear that Spellzone is helping to fill the gaps. Your observation about the certificates has been noted.
Lisa found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    Used during rotation times
  • Significantly reduces attainment gap
    Filling the missing gaps for the individual
  • Does not significantly provide school data
    We don't use it for data
  • Moderately improves attainment
    Helping to fill gaps
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Repetition
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Emily

Teaching asssisstant

Used Spellzone monthly for 3-4 years

Jun 2023

the programme is very useful to me

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for your review Emily. Your school has been valued user of Spellzone since 2012 and we hope it will remain useful to you for many more years to come.
Emily found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    automates directed learning for young people
  • Does not significantly reduce attainment gap
    I find it does help students with low reading and spelling, but only as part of a range of interventions
  • Significantly provides school data
    I really like how much data is recorded on students activity, including how often they log in, how ,long for, and what they achieve
  • Does not significantly improve attainment
    students feel more cponfident about spelling and typing
  • Slightly builds student knowledge
    unless students are dedicated it can be hard to get knowledge to stick
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Juleigh

SpLD Lead

Greenacre Academy, England

Used Spellzone daily for 3-4 years

Apr 2023

It has shown me that pupil improvement percentages continue to excel with the implementation of SZ

Reply from Spellzone:Many thanks for your review Juleigh. It is good to hear that your students are progressing so well!
Juleigh found Spellzone:
  • Significantly reduces teacher workload
    Enables staff to set challenges and the programme will then provide a complete overview
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    Spelling improvement’s up by 40%
  • Significantly provides school data
    Progression
  • Significantly improves attainment
    Grammar
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    Users can have fun but still manage to obtain good results
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Gordon Cairns

Teacher

Govan High School, Scotland

Used Spellzone weekly for 3-4 years

Mar 2023

.

Reply from Spellzone:Your review is much appreciated. Thank you.
Gordon Cairns found Spellzone:
  • Does not significantly reduce teacher workload
    It allows students to work independently
  • Slightly reduces attainment gap
    .
  • Does not significantly provide school data
    .
  • Moderately improves attainment
    .
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
    .
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Ana Rivera

teacher

Jersey City Community Charter School, United States of America

Used Spellzone weekly for 7–12 months

Mar 2023

It has been very useful with teaching my students spelling patterns, developing phonics skills, and improving on vocabulary words to improve reading comprehension skills. It is our go to spelling website.

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for taking the time to leave such a positive review. It is good to hear that Spellzone is reducing your workload!
Ana Rivera found Spellzone:
  • Significantly reduces teacher workload
    Students can log right in to complete weekly spelling patterns that are implemented in my lesson plans. No need to give paper activities since I can print out right from spell zone the weekly spelling words.
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    Students' work load is based on their individual performances. Spelling patterns has helped my students with phonics skills.
  • Significantly provides school data
    I use the additional data to drive individualize instruction.
  • Moderately improves attainment
    Students work on attainment using their individualized course materials.
  • Significantly builds student knowledge
    Knowledge of words and vocabulary increases reading comprehension.
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Emma

SEN Teacher

Tomlinscote, England

Used Spellzone weekly for 3-4 years

Jan 2023

Students often enjoy the games and activities. It helps them to make measurable progress. They can use the resource at school and at home.

Reply from Spellzone:Many thanks for writing a review. We are very pleased to hear that your students enjoy the games and also that Spellzone is saving you time.
Emma found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    The children have a personalised programme suited to address their spelling gaps, which saves me time and makes it easier to provide targeted support to individuals.
  • Moderately reduces attainment gap
    Some students make good gains in their spelling knowledge from the baseline test to the final test.
  • Significantly provides school data
  • Moderately improves attainment
  • Moderately builds student knowledge
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Kelly Schweizer

Literacy Co-Ordinator

Used Spellzone weekly for 1-2 years

Jan 2023

Useful but some features are too aimed at primary schools for our settings

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for your feed-back. We appreciate it. Spellzone is differentiated for a wide range of abilities by the individual learning pathways, created by the initial placement test. This means that some students, regardless of age, may be assigned the Starter Course units. The pathways can be edited if required. The spelling games used for practice vary in style and difficulty enabling students to choose the most appropriate for them. We will email you with some recommendations which should help your students’ progress.
Kelly Schweizer found Spellzone:
  • Moderately reduces teacher workload
    Marks for teachers
  • Slightly reduces attainment gap
  • Slightly provides school data
  • Moderately improves attainment
  • Significantly builds student knowledge
    Useful for curriculum lists
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Kat

Intervention Coordinator

Used Spellzone daily for 1-2 years

Dec 2022

spellzone allows students to work independently at home, it's fairly interactive, students seem to like it, we also use it for EAL students and widening their vocabulary range; it provides great feedback for teachers, students and parents, students' progress can be easily monitored. The price is reasonable.

Reply from Spellzone:Thank you for your review and comments Kat. It may help some of your students if they use the accessibility toolbox to adjust the visual appearance of Spellzone to their specific needs. There is also a text-to-speech facility which can be used if reading is difficult. Your EAL students may like to use the translation feature which can be used to translate any word list into 92 languages!
Kat found Spellzone:
  • Slightly reduces teacher workload
    spellzone can be used independently at home by students, can be set as homework
  • Slightly reduces attainment gap
    it's hard to say, its the first year we are using Spellzone regularly and looking closely at data
  • Significantly provides school data
    we use SpZone initial assessment result combined with Spelling test score to identify students in need of spelling intervention
  • Slightly improves attainment
    not yet
  • Slightly builds student knowledge
    Some students, especially the weaker ones find accessing spellzone independently difficult. We see better impact on more able students with specific weakness in spelling.
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Pedagogy

Certified Pedagogical Quality

Certified by Education Alliance Finland,

EAF Evaluation is an academically-backed approach to evaluating the pedagogical design of a product. EAF evaluators assess the product using criteria that covers the most essential pedagogical aspects in the learning experience.
Passive
Active
Spellzone responds or adapts to user's activities: The staring test analyzes the results and plans the learning path accordingly. There's plenty of pre-curated material: The learning path includes numerous tasks and the student can also look for more word lists themselves. There are also lots of ready-to-use materials for the teachers to choose from. In order to progress the user is required to acquire and use new information, and the system adapts to learner's actions.
Rehearse
Construct
Success and progress in Spellzone is based on the ability to adapt knowledge that the solution delivers: The tasks are provided and the learning path is personalized according to the student's results at several points during the course pathway. The spelling ability test at the beginning of the course defines the contents of the course pathway. Spellzone provides examples and demonstrations, and the students practice until they know them by heart.
Linear
Non-linear/Creative
Learning progress is individual and the solution can create custom learning paths for all users. The content is adapted based on the Spelling ability test. Learning outcomes have a fixed effect on progress - the users will get on when they have successfully passed the previous sections.
Individual
Collaborative
The solution allows the learner to make all the decisions individually. Progress depends only on the user's own actions. The teacher can set personalized tasks for learners, but there are no group goals or collaboration.

Learning goals

Certified by Education Alliance Finland

The supported learning goals are identified by mapping the product against the selected reference curriculum and soft skills definitions most relevant for the 21st century.

  • Learning to notice causal connections
  • Practising visual recognition
  • Practicing to observe spoken and written language
  • Practicing categorization and classification
  • Practicing memorizing skills
  • Practicing letters, alphabets and written language
  • Learning to find the joy of learning and new challenges
  • Practicing to take responsibility of one's own learning
  • Practicing persistent working
  • Learning the basics of spelling
  • Practicing keyboard skills and touch typing
  • Using technology as a part of explorative process
  • Enabling the growth of positive self-image
  • Practicing to use foreign language as a communication tool
  • Use a thesaurus.
  • Use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words.
  • Use knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically, as listed in English Appendix 1.
  • Continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused.
  • Spell some words with ‘silent’ letters [for example, knight, psalm, solemn].
  • Spell words that are often misspelt (English Appendix 1).
  • Spell further homophones.
  • Use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them (English Appendix 1).
  • Apply spelling rules and guidance, as listed in English Appendix 1.
  • Add suffixes to spell longer words, including –ment, –ness, –ful, –less, –ly.
  • Distinguishing between homophones and near-homophones.
  • Learning to spell more words with contracted forms.
  • Learning to spell common exception words.
  • Learning new ways of spelling phonemes for which one or more spellings are already known, and learn some words with each spelling, including a few common homophones.
  • Spelling segmenting spoken words into phonemes and representing these by graphemes, spelling many correctly.
  • Using letter names to distinguish between alternative spellings of the same sound.
  • Using the spelling rule for adding –s or –es as the plural marker for nouns and the third person singular marker for verbs.
  • Using the prefix un–.
  • Apply simple spelling rules and guidance.
  • Using –ing, –ed, –er and –est where no change is needed in the spelling of root words [for example, helping, helped, helper, eating, quicker, quickest].
  • Spelling common exception words.
  • Spelling words containing each of the 40+ phonemes already taught.
  • Apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (morphology and etymology), as listed in English Appendix 1, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words that they meet.
  • Apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology) as listed in English Appendix 1, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words they meet.
  • Read further exception words, noting the unusual correspondences between spelling and sound, and where these occur in the word.
  • Read further common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.
  • Read words containing common suffixes.
  • Read accurately words of two or more syllables that contain the same graphemes as above.
  • Read accurately by blending the sounds in words that contain the graphemes taught so far, especially recognising alternative sounds for graphemes.
  • Continue to apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words until automatic decoding has become embedded and reading is fluent.
  • Read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs.
  • Read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings.
  • Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.
  • Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words.
  • Using dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read.
  • Practicing letters, alphabets and written language
  • Practicing to observe spoken and written language
  • Learning the basics of spelling
  • Distinguishing between homophones and near-homophones.
  • Using –ing, –ed, –er and –est where no change is needed in the spelling of root words [for example, helping, helped, helper, eating, quicker, quickest].
  • Spelling common exception words.
  • Practising visual recognition
  • Read words with contractions [for example, I’m, I’ll, we’ll], and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s).
  • Read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs.
  • Read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings.
  • Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.
  • Respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes.
  • Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words.
  • Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.
  • Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.
  • Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
  • Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
  • Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
  • Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
  • Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes).
  • Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
  • Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds.
  • Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
  • Practicing to observe spoken and written language
  • Supporting student to build their own linguistic and cultural identity
  • Learning about different languages
  • Practicing memorizing skills
  • Practicing letters, alphabets and written language
  • Practicing to set one's own learning goals
  • Practicing to take responsibility of one's own learning
  • Learning the basics of spelling

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Last updated 2nd December 2024
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