North Coast primary schools are reporting marked improvements in spelling after implementing a region-wide program which arms students with strategies to enhance their literacy.

The North Coast Region Spelling Strategy has also sparked interest from schools outside the region following its launch last year.

The North Coast regional director, Carol Carrigan, said results being reported from the primary schools implementing the strategy, which emphasises a more integrated approach to spelling, were “very pleasing”.

“The beauty of the package is that it focuses on the needs of the individual students,” Ms Carrigan said.

Launched in 169 schools across the region, the K-6 program, which follows syllabus requirements, contains an assessment tool that identifies class and individual spelling needs.

The hour-long Criterion Based Spelling Assessment tests students’ understanding within the four forms of spelling: phonological (how words sound), visual (how words look), morphemic (meaning and how words change form) and etymological (where words come from).

The results reveal areas of need which are matched to specific strategies and learning games that allow for spelling to be addressed across all key learning areas.

North Coast region priority schools consultant Carol McMahon, who worked on the program with literacy consultant Johanna Presgrave, said the reported data suggests students are now “more strategically approaching their spelling”.

“They’re actually focusing on the strategy they need to - not just spelling that word but similar words, and that was the whole idea,” she said.

Mrs McMahon said about 95 per cent of schools implementing the strategy had identified morphemic spelling as an area where students were struggling.

Gillwinga Public School principal Colette Abrahall said spelling levels post assessment of the Stage 3 students revealed a 17 per cent improvement following a six-week targeted program.

Teachers used the assessment tool to modify spelling programs and concentrate on increasing morphemic understanding and student knowledge of suffixes and prefixes.

“The success of it was that the kids really loved spelling because they had interesting and engaging activities to do, rather than the traditional fill in the blanks on the line or ‘look, cover, write, check’,” Mrs Abrahall said.

Macksville Public School principal Lissa Tardiani said the assessment tool had contributed to a 20 to 40 per cent improvement across the four forms of spelling after changes to the school’s spelling program to hone in on areas of need.

Harwood Island Public School, near Yamba, also used the assessment as a diagnostic tool with principal Peggy Eather reporting a “100 per cent improvement” in student spelling from Kindergarten to Year 6.

Mrs McMahon said she expected to see further evidence of the strategy’s effectiveness in this year’s literacy testing.

Ms Carrigan said since the presentation of the strategy at last year’s Successful Learning and Priority Schools Program conferences, 55 schools that are either non-government or outside the North Coast region had purchased the spelling strategy, which has been made available to pre-service teachers at Southern Cross University.

“The strategy is something that has been seen to fill the need in that it has practical strategies, an assessment tool and parent information in one,” Ms Carrigan said.