Years 5-6 Statutory Words Set 2

COMMITTEE doubles three different letters — the M, the T and the E. It is the only word on the entire primary spelling list to do so, and getting all three doublings right is a genuine test of careful spelling.

This second set of Years 5-6 statutory words from the DfE pairs a family of COMM words with a group of tricky silent-letter and soft-C words like CONSCIENCE and CONSCIOUS. These are abstract, grown-up words that children are starting to use in their own writing, which makes spelling them correctly increasingly important. The word search brings all fifteen together for focused practice.

CATEGORY · CEMETERY · COMMITTEE · COMMUNICATE · COMMUNITY · COMPETITION · CONSCIENCE · CONSCIOUS · CONTROVERSY · CONVENIENCE · CORRESPOND · CRITICISE · CURIOSITY · DEFINITE · DESPERATE

The COMM family and the SC trap

Several words here begin with COMM, and grouping them helps. COMMITTEE, COMMUNICATE and COMMUNITY all start COMM- with a double M. CORRESPOND doubles the R. CONSCIOUS, CONSCIENCE and DEFINITE don’t double anything at the front but hide their trouble elsewhere. Once children spot the COMM family, three of the longest words in the set become manageable — COMM + UNICATE, COMM + UNITY, COMM + ITTEE.

The SC trap is the other lesson. CONSCIENCE and CONSCIOUS both contain SC saying “sh” — a sound combination most people don’t notice exists. Tell children directly: when SC sits before I or E, it can say “sh” (as in CONSCIOUS and SCIENCE — though SCIENCE says it more like “s”). It is a rare pattern, but the words it appears in are common enough that knowing it pays off. CRITICISE has a similar trick at the end — -ISE saying “ize”, with the soft C just before. CURIOSITY uses the -ous suffix from S49, dressed up with -ITY (turning the adjective CURIOUS into the noun CURIOSITY — the same trick S39 ran with -ness on simpler bases).

Five to be careful with

1. COMMITTEE has three doublings. Find it. Ask your child to circle each one: MM, TT, EE. Three pairs in nine letters — almost half the word is doubled. Tell them: the unique champion of the primary list. No other word on the curriculum doubles three letters.
2. COMMUNICATE and COMMUNITY share a start. Both come from the Latin COMMUNIS (shared). COMMUNICATE means to share information; a COMMUNITY is a group that shares a place. Same root, two everyday words — the same kind of family S60’s Latin roots taught children to spot.
3. CONSCIENCE has SC saying “sh”. Cover the SC and read ONIENCE. With the SC, it says “kon-shens”. A rare spelling-to-sound jump — worth pointing out so it stops being a surprise. Same trick in CONSCIOUS.
4. CURIOSITY came from CURIOUS. S49’s -ous adjective, now wearing -ITY to become a noun. The pattern: drop the -OUS, add -OSITY. Same move turns NERVOUS into NERVOSITY (rare but real) and FEROCIOUS into FEROCITY. A productive suffix machine, hiding in one Year 6 word.
5. DEFINITE is the word most adults misspell as DEFINATE. The middle vowel is I, not A. Memory hook: DEFINITE is FINITE plus DE. FINITE — limited, finished — is a real English word in its own right. Find the FINITE inside DEFINITE and the spelling sorts itself.

Putting it into practice

As a COMM-family starter. Write COMMITTEE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNITY on the board. Underline COMM in each. Then ask the class what other common words start COMM (COMMON, COMMENT, COMMUTE, COMMA). Build the family from the children’s suggestions; the visible cluster makes the doubled M feel like a feature rather than a hurdle.

As an SC-says-sh hunt in pairs. Pairs find both grid words containing SC saying “sh” (CONSCIENCE, CONSCIOUS) and then list any others they can think of (SCIENCE, SCISSORS, MUSCLE — though MUSCLE is silent C, slightly different). The closed set of common SC-“sh” words is small enough to learn directly — and once learned, never trips children up again.

One-to-one at home. For parents teaching at home, use COMMITTEE as a tiny game. Pin a sticky note to the fridge that reads “COMMITTEE has three doublings”. Every time a family member walks past for a week, they have to recite “M-M, T-T, E-E”. The repetition is silly enough to stick (and pleasantly social). By Sunday, no member of the household will ever misspell COMMITTEE again — which is more than most adults can say.

What comes next

• Years 5-6 Statutory Words Set 3 — the next batch of Years 5-6 words
• Years 5-6 Statutory Words Set 1 — the previous set
• All spelling word searches — the full Series A, B and C collection

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