How Cecil Road Primary Took New Words From Talk Into Writing

Mrs Wordsmith

Fri, Oct 02, 26

5 minutes read

Pupils at Cecil Road Primary learning the word 'pungent' from Storyteller's Word a Day

How Cecil Road Primary and Nursery School in Gravesend used Mrs Wordsmith to move new words from talk into children's writing.

“The pungent cauldron was smoldering in Diagon Alley.”

That’s not a line from a bestselling novel. It’s a sentence written by a pupil at Cecil Road Primary and Nursery School in Gravesend, Kent, during the school’s Mrs Wordsmith pilot this summer. Asked why they chose it, the pupil said: “I love the word pungent as it really helps express the disgusting smells coming from the cauldron.”

Why Cecil Road Prioritises Vocabulary

At Mrs Wordsmith, we believe vocabulary is one of the strongest predictors of success in school. The more words a child knows, the more they can read, understand and express.

Cecil Road’s Deputy Head, Hannah Day, first came across Mrs Wordsmith at BETT 2026. She wanted to see how our resources could build vocabulary across the school, and the school joined our pilot programme soon after.

How Mrs Wordsmith Fitted Into the Classroom

Cecil Road ran the pilot in two classes after the May half term, through to the end of the summer term 2026. The school used two Mrs Wordsmith books:

Storyteller’s Word a Day, for rich, descriptive words like pungent
The Book of Big Feelings, which Parks class (Year 4) used to learn words for emotions, such as mischievous, frustrated, relieved and reflective

The school chose its own target words for each class. Mrs Wordsmith supplied a digital pack to go with the books, including interactive whiteboard files, lesson plans, parent handouts and posters. Teachers joined a 30-minute kick-off training session in May.

Teacher Mrs Hampton found it “really easy to use and adaptable to the needs of the class”. She started by getting children to use new words out loud, then moved them into their writing. Her next step was to plan where each new word would fit with the themes the class was already studying.

Pupils at Cecil Road Primary learning the word 'pungent' from Storyteller's Word a Day

On 30 June, the Mrs Wordsmith team visited the school to watch a session in action, and every pupil who took part received a Mrs Wordsmith certificate.

The Results

The biggest change Mrs Hampton saw was in children’s writing. “Children enjoy it and are trying to use the words in their writing,” she told us at her check-in.

Words moved from talk to writing. Pupils learned new words through speaking and listening first, then used them in their own sentences.
Children chose words with purpose. The pungent cauldron wasn’t a random word choice. The pupil could explain exactly why it worked.
A staff champion. Mrs Hampton quickly became a champion of the resources, and the pilot needed no extra tech, access or training support.

Before the pilot, 17 pupils in Parks class took a Quizalize quiz on 16 emotion words from The Book of Big Feelings. Scores ranged from 19% to 88%, with an average of 59%. That’s plenty of room to grow with words like provoked, regretful and reflective.

Why Cecil Road Recommends Mrs Wordsmith

“Really easy to use and adaptable to the needs of the class.”
— Mrs Hampton, teacher, Cecil Road Primary

Flexible. It adapts to the needs of each class.
Easy to pick up. No tech or confidence issues for staff.
Builds oracy and writing together. Words are spoken first, then written.
Children enjoy it. Pupils are trying to use their new words in their own writing.