Years 5-6 Statutory Words Set 5

QUEUE has five letters and only the first two make any sound. The Q and the U do all the work; the remaining U, E, U, E simply queue up behind them, silent and waiting. It is the most patient word in the language.

This fifth set of Years 5-6 statutory words from the DfE is full of silent letters and unexpected sounds: the silent C of MUSCLE, the queue of silent vowels in QUEUE, and the swallowed syllables of PARLIAMENT. Several are words children use often but spell rarely. The word search gathers all fifteen for one practical practice session.

MUSCLE · NECESSARY · NEIGHBOUR · NUISANCE · OCCUPY · OPPORTUNITY · PARLIAMENT · PERSUADE · PHYSICAL · PREJUDICE · PRIVILEGE · PROFESSION · PROGRAMME · PRONUNCIATION · QUEUE

Letters that hide and letters that mislead

Silent letters run right through this set. MUSCLE has a silent C in the middle (“mus-ul” is how it sounds, but the C must be written). PARLIAMENT has a silent A in the middle (“par-li-ment”). QUEUE is fifty percent silent letters by total count. PROGRAMME has a doubled M and a silent E that decorates the British spelling — US English writes PROGRAM with no MME, which simplifies the headache. NEIGHBOUR carries the same EIGH from B10 plus the British -OUR ending (US: NEIGHBOR, no U — same national U as FAVOURITE from B11).

A few words also reward spotting Series A patterns. PROFESSION uses -sion from S48 (vowel before S, the buzz family). PRONUNCIATION uses -tion from S47 (note: PRONOUNCE has an OUN, but PRONUNCIATION drops the O entirely — not a misspelling, a genuine inherited spelling). PHYSICAL uses the Greek root PHYS (related to nature) and the -cal ending from S66’s -cial family. OPPORTUNITY uses double P like APPRECIATE from B16. NECESSARY is the famously misspelled word with “one C, two Ss” — the memory hook adults still use to keep it straight.

Five to handle with care

1. QUEUE has only two audible letters. Find it. Cover the first two and read what remains — UEUE. Three silent vowels in a row, queued patiently. Tell your child: this word is what it describes. The QU is at the front; the rest is waiting.
2. NECESSARY: one C, two Ss. Memory hook adults have used for centuries. Have your child write the word with the C underlined once and each S underlined twice. The visual reminder cements the count.
3. MUSCLE has a silent C. Cover the C and read MUSLE. Same trick as ISLAND’s silent S from B12. Some letters sit on the page doing nothing audible — and the only way through is to learn which.
4. PARLIAMENT has a silent A. Say it slowly — “par-li-ment”. The A in the middle is barely there. Then look at the word — PAR-LIA-MENT. The A is the middle letter of LIA. A small fossil from French; English never noticed it had stopped saying it.
5. PROGRAMME has the British MME ending. Tell your child: in the UK we write PROGRAMME, in the US they write PROGRAM. Same word, different national tradition. Same -OUR/-OR split as NEIGHBOUR/NEIGHBOR in this very puzzle, FAVOURITE/FAVORITE in B11, COLOUR/COLOR everywhere.

A practical approach

As a silent-letter map starter. Project the fifteen grid words and ask the class to circle every silent letter they can spot. MUSCLE (C), PARLIAMENT (middle A), QUEUE (UEUE), PROGRAMME (second M and final E), NEIGHBOUR (GH and U). Some words have one ghost letter, some have several. The map of silences shows children that Year 6 spelling is largely about knowing where the silent letters live.

As a NECESSARY-style mnemonic pair task. Pairs are given five words and tasked with inventing a memory trick for each: NECESSARY (one C, two Ss), PARLIAMENT (LIAM is a name — there is a LIAM in parliament), QUEUE (one Q, four ghosts), MUSCLE (the C is silent like the C in SCIENCE — same SC family from B17), PROGRAMME (British MME, American not). Five mnemonics, all student-made, all sticky.

One-to-one at home. For parents teaching at home, take this set on a real-world hunt. NEIGHBOUR lives next door (a house number on the post). PARLIAMENT is on the news. QUEUE is at every shop. MUSCLE is at the gym, the doctor’s, in every sport conversation. Your child finds five grid words being used in real life this week and writes each one in a sentence about where they found it. Spelling that connects to the world outside the page is spelling that stays.

What comes next

• Years 5-6 Statutory Words Set 6 — words borrowed from other languages
• Years 5-6 Statutory Words Set 4 — the previous set
• All spelling word searches — the full Series A, B and C collection

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