English

Year R

• Use some of their print and letter knowledge in their early writing. For example: writing a pretend shopping list that starts at the top of the page; write ‘m’ for mummy.

• Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with the letter/s. 
  

• Write short sentences with words with known letter-sound correspondences using a capital letter and  a full stop.

Sentences are demarcated with a Capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.

Words and sentences are written and read from left to right.

Letters should be written into the correct order to spell a word.

Year 1

• To know all letters of the alphabet and the sounds which they most commonly represent. 

• To recognise consonant digraphs which have been taught and the sounds which they represent.

• To recognise vowel digraphs which have been taught and the sounds which they represent. 

• To recognise words with adjacent consonants.

• To accurately spell most words containing the 40+ previously taught phonemes and GPCs.

• To spell some words in a phonically plausible way, even if sometimes incorrect.

• To apply Y1 spelling rules and guidance.

The English alphabet consists of 26 different letters.

Words can be split into syllables

Suffixes are groups of letters that are added to the end of a word to change the tense or meaning. These include -s, -es, -ing, -ed and -est.

Sentences are demarcated with a Capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.

Year 2

• To segment spoken words into phonemes and to represent these with graphemes, spelling many of these words correctly and making phonically-plausible attempts at others.

• To recognise new ways of spelling phonemes for which one or more spellings are already known and to learn some words with each spelling, including some common homophones (e.g. bare/bear, blue/ blew, night/knight). 

• To apply further Y2 spelling rules and guidance.

Homophones are words that sounds the same but are spelt differently and have different meanings.

Suffixes include, - y, -est

Year 3

• To spell words with the / eɪ/ sound spelt ‘ei’, ‘eigh’, or ‘ey’ (e.g. vein, weigh, eight, neighbour, they, obey). 

• To spell words with the /ɪ/ sound spelt ‘y’ in a position other than at the end of words (e.g. mystery, gym).

• To spell words with a /k/ sound spelt with ‘ch’ (e.g. scheme, chorus, chemist, echo, character).

• To spell words ending in the /g/ sound spelt ‘gue’ and the /k/ sound spelt ‘que’ (e.g. league, tongue, antique, unique). 

• To spell words with a / sh/ sound spelt with ‘ch’ (e.g. chef, chalet, machine, brochure).

• To spell words with a short /u/ sound spelt with ‘ou’ (e.g. young, touch, double, trouble, country).

• To spell words ending with the /zher/ sound spelt with ‘sure’ (e.g. measure, treasure, pleasure, enclosure).

• To spell words ending with the /cher/ sound spelt with ‘ture’ (e.g. creature, furniture, picture, nature, adventure).

Year 4

• To spell words with / shuhn/ endings spelt with ‘sion’ (if the root word ends in ‘se’, ‘de’ or ‘d’, e.g. division, invasion, confusion, decision, collision, television).

• To spell words with a / shuhn/ sound spelt with ‘ssion’ (if the root word ends in ‘ss’ or ‘mit’, e.g. expression, discussion, confession, permission, admission). 

• To spell words with a / shuhn/ sound spelt with ‘tion’ (if the root word ends in ‘te’ or ‘t’ or has no definite root, e.g. invention, injection, action, hesitation, completion). 

• To spell words with a / shuhn/ sound spelt with ‘cian’ (if the root word ends in ‘c’ or ‘cs’, e.g. musician, electrician, magician, politician, mathematician).

• To spell words with the /s/ sound spelt with ‘sc’ (e.g. sound spelt with ‘sc’ (e.g. science, scene, discipline, fascinate, crescent).

Year 5

• To spell words with endings that sound like / shuhs/ spelt with -cious (e.g. vicious, precious, conscious, delicious, malicious, suspicious). 

• To spell words with endings that sound like / shuhs/ spelt with –tious or -ious (e.g. ambitious, cautious, fictitious, infectious, nutritious). 

• To spell words with ‘silent’ letters (e.g. doubt, island, lamb, solemn, thistle, knight). 

• To spell words containing the letter string ‘ough’ (e.g. ought, bought, thought, nought, brought, fought, rough, tough, enough, cough, though, although, dough, through, thorough, borough, plough, bough)

Some words contain letters that are not sounded out - silent letters.

Year 6

• To spell words ending in -able and -ably (e.g. adorable/ adorably, applicable/ applicably, considerable/ considerably, tolerable/ tolerably). 

• To spell words ending in -ible and -ibly (e.g. possible/possibly, horrible/horribly, terrible/ terribly, visible/visibly, incredible/incredibly, sensible/sensibly).

• To spell words with a long /e/ sound spelt ‘ie’ or ‘ei’ after ‘c’ (e.g. deceive, conceive, receive, perceive, ceiling) and exceptions (e.g. protein, caffeine, seize). 

• To spell words with endings which sound like /shuhl/ after a vowel letter using ‘cial’ (e.g. official, special, artificial).

• To spell words with endings which sound like /shuhl/ after a vowel letter using ‘tial’ (e.g. partial, confidential, essential).

Suffixes include -able, -ably, -ible, -ibly.

Year R

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Year 1

• To use -s and -es to form regular plurals correctly.

• To use the prefix ‘un-’ accurately.

• To successfully add the suffixes –ing, –ed, –er and –est to root words where no change is needed in the spelling of the root words (e.g. helped, quickest).

Plurals refer to more than one of something.

Suffixes are groups of letters that are added to the end of a word to change the tense or meaning. These include -s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er and -est.

Year 2

• To add suffixes to spell most words correctly in their writing, e.g. –ment, –ness, –ful, –less, –ly

Suffixes include  –ment, –ness, –ful, –less, –ly

Year 3

• To spell most words with the prefixes dis-, mis-, bi-, re- and de- correctly (e.g. disobey, mistreat, bicycle, reapply, defuse). 

• To spell most words with the suffix -ly with no change to the root word; root words that end in ‘le’,‘al’ or ‘ic’ and the exceptions to the rules.

• To spell words with added suffixes beginning with a vowel (-er/-ed/- ing) to words with more than one syllable (unstressed last syllable, e.g. limiting offering). 

• To spell words with added suffixes beginning with a vowel (-er/-ed/- en/-ing) to words with more than one syllable (stressed last syllable, e.g. forgotten beginning).

Prefixes are groups of letters that are placed at the start of a word to change the meaning. These include: dis-, mis-, bi-, re- and de-

Suffixes include -ly

Year 4

• To correctly spell most words with the prefixes in-, il-, im-, ir-, sub-, super-, anti-, auto-, inter-, ex- and non- (e.g. incorrect, illegal, impossible, irrelevant, substandard, superhero, autograph, antisocial, intercity, exchange, nonsense).

• To form nouns with the suffix -ation (e.g. information, adoration, sensation, preparation, admiration). 

• To spell words with the suffix -ous with no change to root words, no definitive root word, words ending in ‘y’, ‘our’ or ‘e’ and the exceptions to the rule (e.g. joyous, fabulous, mysterious, rigorous, famous, advantageous).

Prefixes include: in-, il-, im-, ir-, sub-, super-, anti-, auto-, inter-, ex- and non- 

Suffixes include: -ous and  -ation

Year 5

• To convert nouns or adjectives into verbs using the suffix -ate (e.g. activate, motivate communicate). 

• To convert nouns or adjectives into verbs using the suffix -ise (e.g. criticise, advertise, capitalise). 

• To convert nouns or adjectives into verbs using the suffix -ify (e.g. signify, falsify, glorify). 

• To convert nouns or adjectives into verbs using the suffix -en (e.g. blacken, brighten, flatten)

Nouns or adjectives can be changed into verbs using the suffixes -ate, -ise, -ify and -en.

Year 6

• To use their knowledge of adjectives ending in -ant to spell nouns ending in -ance/-ancy (e.g. observant, observance, expectant, hesitant, hesitancy, tolerant, tolerance, substance). 

• To use their knowledge of adjectives ending in -ent to spell nouns ending in -ence/-ency (e.g. innocent, innocence, decent, decency, frequent, frequency, confident, confidence, obedient, obedience, independent). 

• To spell words by adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in -fer (e.g. referring, referred, referral, preferring, preferred, transferring, transferred, reference, referee, preference, transference) .

Year R

-
Year 1

• To spell simple compound words (e.g. dustbin, football). 

• To read words that they have spelt. 

• To take part in the process of segmenting spoken words into phonemes before choosing graphemes to represent those phonemes.

Compound words are words formed by joining two different words.

Year 2

• To spell more words with contracted forms, e.g. can’t, didn’t, hasn’t, couldn’t, it’s, I’ll. 

• To learn the possessive singular apostrophe (e.g. the girl’s book). 

• To write, from memory, simple sentences dictated by the teacher that include words using the GPCs, common exception words and punctuation taught so far.

• To segment spoken words into phonemes and to then represent all of the phonemes using graphemes in the right order for both single syllable and multisyllabic words.

• To self-correct

Apostrophes can be used to indicate possession.

Two words can be joined by using the contracted form where an apostrophes takes the place of one of the letters.

Year 3

• To spell some more complex homophones and near-homophones, including here/hear, brake/break and mail/ male. To use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary

Dictionaries are books that contain definition of words.

You search for word in a dictionary in alphabetical order using the first two or three letters.

Year 4

• To spell words that use the possessive apostrophe with plural words, including irregular plurals (e.g. girls’, boys’, babies’, children’s, men’s, mice’s). 

• To use their spelling knowledge to use a dictionary more efficiently.

Apostrophes can be used to indicate possession when there is more that one person / object.

Year 5

• To spell complex homophones and near homophones, including who’s/whose and stationary/stationery. 

• To use the first three or four letters of a word to check spelling, meaning or both of these in a dictionary

More complex words may require using the first three or four words when searching in a dictionary.

Year 6

• To spell homophones and near homophones that include nouns that end in -ce/-cy and verbs that end in -se/-sy (e.g. practice/ practise, licence/license, advice/advise).

• To spell words that contain hyphens (e.g. co-ordinate, re-enter, cooperate, co-own). To use a knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically.

• To use dictionaries and thesauruses to check the spelling and meaning of words and confidently find synonyms and antonyms

Hyphens can be used to combine certain types of words including compound modifiers such as adjectives and participles.

Morphology is the science and study of word formation.

Etymology is the history of  a word or phrase.

Year R

• Develop their small motor skills so that they can use a range of tools competently, safely and confidently. Suggested tools: pencils for drawing and writing, paintbrushes, scissors, knives, forks and spoons. 

• Use their core muscle strength to achieve a good posture when sitting at a table or sitting on the floor.

• Develop the foundations of a handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient. 

• Form lower case and capital letters correctly.

Core muscles are important to maintaining a good seating posture.

Small motor skills can be improved using different media and will impact on letter formation.

Words consist of different letters and are separated using spaces.

Year 1

• To write lower case and capital letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place with a good level of consistency. 

• To sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly. 

• To form digits 0-9. To understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’ (i.e. letters that are formed in similar ways) and to practise these.

English is written from left to right.

Letters can be arranged into handwriting families and are formed in similar ways.

Letters can be written in lower or upper case and differ in size.

Letters should be written in relative sizes to each other.

Year 2

• To write capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one another and to lower case letters. 

• To form lower case letters of the correct size, relative to one another. 

• To use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters.

• To begin to use the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters.

Letters can be written in lower or upper case and differ in size.

Letters consist of ascenders and descenders and should be written appropriately.

Year 3

• To use a neat, joined handwriting style with increasing accuracy and speed.

• To continue to use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and to understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined.

Cursive handwriting is a style of joined up handwriting in which the letters are connected to help you write faster. This is as an alternative to block-letters, where you lift the pen up between every letter. It can also be called joined-up handwriting. It's less commonly known as script handwriting.

Year 4

• To increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting [e.g by ensuring that the downstrokes of letters are parallel and equidistant; that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch].

• To confidently use diagonal and horizontal joining strokes throughout their independent writing to increase fluency.

Year 5

• To increase the speed of their handwriting so that problems with forming letters do not get in the way of writing down what they want to say. 

• To be clear about what standard of handwriting is appropriate for a particular task, e.g. quick notes or a final handwritten version.

• To confidently use diagonal and horizontal joining strokes throughout their independent writing in a legible, fluent and speedy way.

Year 6

• To write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by:

  • choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters;

  • choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task.

• To recognise when to use an unjoined style (e.g. for labelling a diagram or data, writing an email address or for algebra) and capital letters (e.g. for filling in a form).

Year R

• Begin to develop complex stories using small world equipment, like animal sets, dolls and dolls houses, etc. 

• Learn new vocabulary. 

• Articulate their ideas and thoughts in well-formed sentences. 

• Describe events in some detail. 

• Use talk to help work out problems and organise thinking and activities. Explain how things work and why they might happen. 

• Listen to and talk about stories to build familiarity and understanding 

• Retell the story, once they have developed a deep familiarity with the text; some as exact repetition and some in their own words. 

• Use new vocabulary in different contexts. 

• Write short sentences with words with known letter-sound correspondences using a capital letter and a full stop. 

• Re-read what they have written to check it makes sense. 

• Develop storylines in their pretend play. 

• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

• Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and teachers.

Year 1

• To say out loud what they are going to write about. 

• To compose a sentence orally before writing it. 

• Write a simple sentence starting with a personal pronoun.

• Write a simple sentence starting with a noun/proper noun

• To sequence sentences to form short narratives.

• To discuss what they have written with the teacher or other pupils. 

• To reread their writing to check that it makes sense and to independently begin to make changes. 

• To read their writing aloud clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher.

• To use adjectives to describe.

• Notice when the adult makes an error in spelling (link to known GPCs and red words)

• When the adult reads aloud pupils hear when a simple sentence does not make sense eg words transposed or missed

• When listening to their own writing being read they hear when meaning is lost

• When the error is identified pupils can fix a spelling using known GPCs.

Adjectives are words that assign attributes to nouns and can enhance description.

Sentences can be sequenced to create a narrative.

Sentences can be extended using simple conjunctions such as and.

Year 2

• To write narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional). 

• To write about real events. 

• To write simple poetry. 

• To plan what they are going to write about, including writing down ideas and/or key words and new vocabulary 

• To encapsulate what they want to say, sentence by sentence.

• To make simple additions, revisions and corrections to their own writing by evaluating their writing with the teacher and other pupils. 

• Use coordinating conjunctions (or/and/but)

• Write expanded noun phrases to describe and specify

• To reread to check that their writing makes sense and that the correct tense is used throughout.

• To proofread to check for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation (e.g. to check that the ends of sentences are punctuated correctly) – making changes in green editing pen.

• During shared writing discuss word choice and clarity of message.

• Proof-read to check writing makes sense – noticing omitted words and sentence fragments.

• Proofread to check for past tense consistency.

Tenses are used to indicate whether writing is in the past, present or future.

Planning is used to record initial ideas and can be developed with key phrases and vocabulary. 

Ideas can be linked between sentences using time conjunction and

Year 3

• To begin to use ideas from their own reading and modelled examples to plan their writing.

• To proofread their own and others’ work to check for errors (with increasing accuracy) and to make improvements. 

• To begin to organise their writing into paragraphs around a theme. 

• To compose and rehearse sentences orally (including dialogue).

• Re-read their own writing to proof-read - checking for errors in spelling, punctuation and verb tense.

• Make necessary changes using green pen.

• Introduce editing partners to support reading and noticing errors in spelling, punctuation and verb tense.

• Re-read their own writing checking for cohesion through (nouns, pronouns and verb tense)

• Use simple organisational devices, e.g. headings and subheadings

Paragraphs are a collection of sentences.

They are used in writing to introduce new sections of a story, characters or pieces of information.

Paragraphs help readers to enjoy what has been written because they break text up into easy-to-read sections.

Ideas can be linked between sentences using 

Heading and subheading can be used to organise non fiction texts.

Year 4

• To compose and rehearse sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures.

• To consistently organise their writing into paragraphs around a theme to add cohesion and to aid the reader. 

• To proofread consistently and amend their own and others’ writing, correcting errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling and adding nouns/ pronouns for cohesion.

• Evaluate writing – noticing where vocabulary can be changed to improve the effect.

• Make necessary changes using green pen.

There are four types of sentence structures: simple, compound, complex, and compound complex. Using these different types of sentence structures allows you to add variety to your essays. 

A simple sentence is one independent clause with no subordinate clauses.  This sentence contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. 

A compound sentence is formed with two or more independent clauses with no subordinate clauses. A comma and a conjunction will most likely join these clauses, though a semicolon may also join sentences. 

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. The dependent clauses may precede, follow, or be "imbedded" within the independent clause. 

A compound-complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.

Year 5

• To plan their writing by identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own. 

• To consider, when planning narratives, how authors have developed characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen performed. 

• To proofread work to précis longer passages by removing unnecessary repetition or irrelevant details. 

• To consistently link ideas across paragraphs. 

• To proofread their work to assess the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and to make necessary corrections and improvements.

• Re-read their own writing and that of others checking for cohesion through (nouns, pronouns, tense, adverbials)

• Assess effectiveness of own writing noticing where vocabulary and sentence structure can be changed to improve the effect.

• Check and correct writing focused on internal punctuation to mark clause boundaries eg parenthesis, comma, semi colon

• Make necessary changes using green pen.

• Check and correct commas to mark clauses.

Repetition can be used for effect but can also distract from the meaning of a narrative. 

Settings can be developed using a range of techniques including figurative language.

Figurative language includes personification, metaphor and simile.

Year 6

• To note down and develop initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary.

• To use further organisational and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader (e.g. headings, bullet points, underlining).

• To use a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs.

• To habitually proofread for spelling and punctuation errors. 

• To propose changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning. 

• To recognise how words are related by meaning as synonyms and antonyms and to use this knowledge to make improvements to their writing.

• Assess effectiveness of own writing eg noticing where register is lost through inappropriate vocabulary or sentence structure is used.

• Check and correct writing focused on internal punctuation to mark clause boundaries eg parenthesis, comma, semi colon

A synonym is a word that means the same or almost the same as another word.

An antonym is a word that means the opposite or nearly the opposite of another word.

Figurative language includes pathetic fallacy and onomatopoeia.

Year R

• Use a wider range of vocabulary. 

• Be able to express a point of view and to debate when they disagree with an adult or a friend, using words as well as actions.

• Can start a conversation with an adult or a friend and continue it for many turns. 

• Use talk to organise themselves and their play: “Let’s go on a bus… you sit there… I’ll be the driver.” Learn new vocabulary.

• Use new vocabulary throughout the day. 

• Describe events in some detail. 

• Use talk to help work out problems and organise thinking and activities. Explain how things work and why they might happen. 

• Develop social phrases.

• Use new vocabulary in different contexts. 

• Participate in small group, class and one-to one discussion, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary.

Conversation between two or more people involves speaking, listening and taking turns.

Year 1

• To use a number of simple features of different text types and to make relevant choices about subject matter and appropriate vocabulary choices. 

• To start to engage readers by using adjectives to describe.

Different text types are suitable for different audiences. 

Year 2

• To write for different purposes with an awareness of an increased amount of fiction and non-fiction structures. 

• To use new vocabulary from their reading, their discussions about it (one to-one and as a whole class) and from their wider experiences.

• To read aloud what they have written with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear.

Non fiction refers to literature based on fact.

Fiction refers to literature based on imagination.

Different structures in writing are used for fiction and non-fiction writing.

Year 3

• To demonstrate an increasing understanding of purpose and audience by discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar. 

• To begin to use the structure of a wider range of text types (including the use of simple layout devices in non-fiction). 

• To make deliberate ambitious word choices to add detail. 

• To begin to create settings, characters and plot in narratives.

A plot is the sequence of connected events that make up a narrative in a novel.

Grammar refers to rules of a language governing the sounds, words, sentences, and other elements, as well as their combination and interpretation.

Year 4

• To write a range of narratives and non-fiction pieces using a consistent and appropriate structure (including genre-specific layout devices). 

  
  

  To write a range of narratives that are well structured and well-paced.

  
  

  To create detailed settings, characters and plot in narratives to engage the reader and to add atmosphere. 

  
  

  To begin to read aloud their own writing, to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and to control the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.

Intonation refers to the rise and fall of the voice in speaking and can affect the meaning of written work.

Atmosphere in narrative refers to the feeling a writer wants their readers to experience, like suspense or foreboding, longing or joy.

Year 5

• To consistently produce sustained and accurate writing from different narrative and non-fiction genres with appropriate structure, organisation and layout devices for a range of audiences and purposes.

• To describe settings, characters and atmosphere with carefully chosen vocabulary to enhance mood, clarify meaning and create pace. 

• To regularly use dialogue to convey a character and to advance the action.

• To perform their own compositions confidently using appropriate intonation, volume and movement so that meaning is clear.

Dialogue can be used to advance the action in a narrative.

Pacing refers to the speed at which a story unfolds: its rhythm and flow, the rise and fall of its action, plot points and story arcs.

Shorter sentences and paragraphs tend to create a faster pace, while longer ones slow it down, allowing for more detailed descriptions or introspection.

Year 6

• To write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting the appropriate form and drawing independently on what they have read as models for their own writing (including literary language, characterisation, structure, etc.).

• To distinguish between the language of speech and writing and to choose the appropriate level of formality.

• To select vocabulary and grammatical structures that reflect what the writing requires (e.g. using contracted forms in dialogues in narrative; using passive verbs to affect how information is presented; using modal verbs to suggest degrees of possibility).

Formal language is characterised by the use of standard English, more complex sentence structures, infrequent use of personal pronouns, and lack of colloquial or slang terms.

Informal language allows the use of nonstandard English forms, colloquial vocabulary and typically shorter sentence structures.

The choice of formal or informal style will affect the following areas:

• standard or nonstandard English

• choice of vocabulary

• use of contractions

• use of pronouns

Year R

• Use new vocabulary throughout the day. Articulate their ideas and thoughts in well formed sentences. 

• Connect one idea or action to another using a range of connectives. 

• Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate.

Year 1

• To use simple sentence structures

A simple sentence consists of just one independent clause—a group of words that contains at least one subject and at least one verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence—with no dependent clauses.

Year 2

• To use the present tense and the past tense mostly correctly and consistently. 

• To form sentences with different forms: statement, question, exclamation, command. 

• To use some features of written Standard English. 

A declarative sentence makes a declaration or a statement. It can also express an opinion. This sentence ends in a period.

An interrogative sentence asks a question. This sentence might begin with words, such as who, what, where, when or why. It ends with a question mark.

An imperative sentence issues a command or a request to the reader directly. This sentence can end in a period or an exclamation point.

An exclamatory sentence illustrates great emotion, such as surprise, excitement and anger. It ends with an exclamation point.

Year 3

• To try to maintain the correct tense (including the present perfect tense) throughout a piece of writing with accurate subject/verb agreement. 

• To use ‘a’ or ‘an’ correctly throughout a piece of writing.

A is used before a noun that starts with a consonant sound (e.g., 's', 't', and 'v'). 

An is used before a noun that starts with a vowel sound (e.g., 'a', 'o', and 'i')

Inflections indicate TENSE. The -s inflection indicates the PRESENT TENSE, and the -ed inflection indicates the PAST TENSE.

Year 4

• To always maintain an accurate tense throughout a piece of writing.

• To always use Standard English verb inflections accurately, e.g. ‘we were’ rather than ‘we was’ and ‘I did’ rather than ‘I done’.

When you are writing verb inflections you should always use Standard English.

Standard English is grammatically correct and does not use colloquial language.

Year 5

• To use a range of adverbs and modal verbs to indicate degrees of possibility, e.g. surely, perhaps, should, might, etc.

• To ensure the consistent and correct use of tense throughout all pieces of writing.

Modal verbs show possibility, intent, ability, or necessity.

Modal verbs are used to change the meaning of other verbs.

Year 6

• To ensure the consistent and correct use of tense throughout all pieces of writing, including the correct subject and verb agreement when using singular and plural.

Subject-verb agreement is the grammatical rule that the verb or verbs in a sentence must match the number, person, and gender of the subject.

Year R

• Articulate their ideas and thoughts in well formed sentences.

• Connect one idea or action to another using a range of connectives.

• Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including the use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions with modelling and support from the teacher.

Year 1

• To use the joining word (conjunction) ‘and’ to link ideas and sentences. 

• To begin to form simple compound sentences.

Compound sentences are formed with two or more independent clauses with no subordinate clauses.

Year 2

• To use co-ordination (or/and/but).

• To use some subordination (when/if/ that/because). 

• To use expanded noun phrases to describe and specify (e.g. the blue butterfly).

Coordination means combining two sentences or ideas that are of equal value. 

Subordination means combining two sentences or ideas in a way that makes one more important than the other.

Year 3

• To use subordinate clauses, extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions, including when, if, because, and although. 

• To use a range of conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to show time, place and cause.

• To use adverbs or prepositions.

Subordinate clause  is a group of words in a sentence that contains a subject and a verb but cannot function as a complete sentence on its own.

Adverbs add details to verbs expressing time, place or manner.

Prepositions are words telling you where or when something is.

Year 4

• To use subordinate clauses, extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions, which are sometimes in varied positions within sentences. 

• To expand noun phrases with the addition of ambitious modifying adjectives and prepositional phrases, e.g. the heroic soldier with an unbreakable spirit.

• To consistently choose nouns or pronouns appropriately to aid cohesion and avoid repetition, e.g. he, she, they, it.

• To use fronted adverbials in their writing.

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. 

Prepositional phrases modify or describe nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs.

Fronted adverbials are words or phrases used at the beginning of a sentence to describe the action that follows.

Year 5

• To use a wide range of linking words/phrases between sentences and paragraphs to build cohesion, including time adverbials (e.g. later), place adverbials (e.g. nearby) and number (e.g. secondly). 

• To use relative clauses beginning with a relative pronoun with confidence (who, which, where, when, whose, that and omitted relative pronouns), e.g. Professor Scriffle, who was a famous inventor, had made a new discovery.

• Indicate degrees of possibility using adverbs (perhaps, surely), or model verbs (might, should, will).

A relative clause can be used to give additional information about a noun. 

A relative clause is a specific type of subordinate clause that adapts, describes, or modifies a noun. 

They're introduced by a relative pronoun, such as 'that', 'which', 'who', 'whose', 'where', and 'when'.

Modal verbs supports other verbs in a sentence to indicate possibility or necessity.

Year 6

• To use the subjunctive form in formal writing.

• To use the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause. 

• To use the passive voice. 

• To use question tags in informal writing.

• To use the different structures typical of informal and formal speech and writing.

The subjunctive form (or mood) of a verb refers to actions or events which are possibilities, wishes or uncertainty rather than facts.

The present perfect tense is an English verb tense used for past actions that are related to or continue into the present.

The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action

Year R

-

Year 1

• To use capital letters for names, places, the days of the week and the personal pronoun ‘I’. 

• To use finger spaces. 

• To use full stops to end sentences. 

• To begin to use question marks and exclamation marks.

Sentences are demarcated with a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.

Question marks indicate that the sentence is asking something.

The exclamation mark is used to express exasperation, astonishment, or surprise, or to emphasise a comment or short, sharp phrase.

Year 2

• To use the full range of punctuation taught at key stage 1 mostly correctly including: 

  • capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks;

  • commas to separate lists; 

  • apostrophes to mark singular possession and contractions.

When commas are used to separate items in a list, a comma is placed between each individual item in the list, except for the final two items, which instead use the conjunction and.

Year 3

• To use the full range of punctuation from previous year groups. To punctuate direct speech accurately, including the use of inverted commas.

Inverted commas (also known as speech marks) are used to show when someone is speaking in a piece of writing (direct speech). They help to differentiate between text that is spoken and text that has not. Commas and capital letters are also used to punctuate speech.

To punctuate direct speech, follow these simple rules:

1. Start a new line for each new speaker. This helps the reader to keep track of who is speaking.

2. Add a pair of inverted commas around the words spoken by the character. The first pair of inverted commas should go before the first spoken word and the second pair should go after the punctuation which follows the last spoken word.

3. Begin the spoken words with a capital letter.

4. Add closing punctuation to follow the last spoken word. This could be a comma, full stop, exclamation mark, question mark or even an ellipsis if the character's thoughts trail off.

5. Use a comma to separate the direct speech and reporting clause.

Year 4

• To use all of the necessary punctuation in direct speech, including a comma after the reporting clause and all end punctuation within the inverted commas.

• To consistently use apostrophes for singular and plural possession.

• To use commas after fronted adverbials.

Year 5

• To use commas consistently to clarify meaning or to avoid ambiguity.

• To use brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis.

Parenthesis is when additional information is added to a sentence that is usually added as an explanation or as non-essential information relating to the main clause. 

In writing, parenthesis is separated from the rest of the sentence by pairs of brackets, commas or dashes.

Year 6

• To use the full range of punctuation taught at Key Stage 2 correctly, including consistent and accurate use of semicolons, dashes, colons, hyphens, and, when necessary, to use such punctuation precisely to enhance meaning and avoid ambiguity.

Year R

-

Year 1

• Joining words and joining clauses using and.

Year 2

• Using Subordination (when, if, that, because) and coordination (or, and, but).

Year 3

• Expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions (before, when, after, while, so because), adverbs (then, next, soon, therefore) or prepositions (before, after, during, in, because of).

Year 4

• Fronted adverbials [for example, Later that day, I heard the bad news.]

• Use of paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme.

• Appropriate choice of pronoun or noun within and across sentences to aid cohesion and avoid repetition.

Year 5

• Devices to build cohesion within a paragraph [for example, then, after that, this, firstly] 

• Linking ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time [for example, later], place [for example, nearby] and number [for example, secondly] or tense choices [for example, he had seen her before]

Year 6

• Linking ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive devices: repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections [for example, the use of adverbials such as on the other hand, in contrast, or as a consequence], and ellipsis.