Jolimont Primary School kids learn the power of Latin in innovative spelling program

Latin has not been taught in schools for many years — but the ancient language underpins an innovative spelling and vocabulary program being rolled out to primary schools across the country next year. Developed in WA and piloted this year at Jolimont Primary School, Word Origins teaches children in Years 3 to 6 the meaning of Latin and Greek roots of words. Mandy Nayton, who leads the Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation which created the program, said it had been “quite transformational” in not only improving children’s spelling, but their enjoyment of it. “The reality is that English is a complex language in that we have borrowed and absorbed words from languages all over the world,” she said. “And unfortunately, the spelling patterns that belong to those languages have been brought in.” Ms Nayton said the three dominant languages in English were Anglo-Saxon, Latin and Greek. Anglo-Saxon had many archaic spelling patterns, such as the silent K at the start of “knife” and 10 different ways of writing the A sound. But because Latin was already a written language when it was absorbed into English, it barely changed. Ms Nayton said once students had a grasp of underlying root words, they could build hundreds of words, work out their meaning and how to spell them. For example, “struct”, which means to build, is used in words such as construct, instruction and indestructible. It meant children didn’t waste time wondering if a word like “action” was spelt “acshun”, because they knew it was act — meaning “to do” — plus “ion” making it a noun. “They’re realising how predictable a lot of this spelling is,” she said. “So the kids love it, the teachers love it. “It’s not that we’re drilling kids in Latin, but they are learning about that structure.” By middle and upper primary school, around 60 per cent of the words that students encounter are either Latin or Greek in origin. And Greek words make up about 80 per cent of words used in maths and science. “They learn so much — they start seeing these roots in other words, in other subjects across the curriculum and in stories that they’re reading,” Ms Nayton said. “It gives them so much information about what a word might mean and how we say it and spell it. It is incredibly powerful.” The program has been snapped up by Tasmanian education authorities to roll out to every public school from next year. Schools in WA, Victoria and Queensland are also picking it up. Jolimont principal Barbara Iffla said teachers had been amazed by students’ continuous achievement. “The delight and fun created by using this unique program made learning spelling and vocabulary enjoyable which, in turn, improved motivation and learning,” she said. Jennifer Ashton, who leads the Tasmanian Government’s lifting literacy project, said the program’s focus on Latin and Greek was “fantastic”. “It really gives our children a deep understanding of the way words work,” she said. Ms Ashton said the program “ticks many boxes” because it was based on research and included all the resources and assessments, so it would help reduce teachers’ workloads. Every public primary school would be provided with a manual and professional training to help them implement the program from next year.