EYFS

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Composition

Writing 

∙ Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed; 

∙ Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters; 

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

∙ I can write sentences by saying out loud what I am going to write about.

 ∙ I can say my sentence out loud before I write it. 

∙ I can join my sentences together to make a story. 

∙ I can read my sentence and check that it makes sense. 

∙ I can talk about my writing with my teacher or children in my class. 

∙ I can read my sentence out loud so that children in my class can hear and understand me.

∙ I can write about things I have done and things that others have done. 

∙ I can write a long piece of text about a real event in one go.

∙ I can write poetry. 

∙ I can write for different purposes, writing long and short pieces of work. ∙ I can plan my writing by writing down my ideas or talking about them. ∙ I can plan my writing by writing down ideas and/or key words and new vocabulary. 

∙ I can plan my writing by writing down my ideas or talking about them for each sentence. 

∙ I can change my writing and make corrections after I have spoken to a teacher or another child about it. 

∙ I can check my work by reading it through to make sure it makes sense and that I have used the right verbs to indicate time. 

∙ I can proof-read my work and check for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. 

∙ I can read my work aloud with confidence using the tone of my voice to make the meaning clear.

∙ I can plan my writing by discussing it and talking about how to improve it using examples from other writers that I like. 

∙ I can plan my writing by talking about the important parts to have in a story, poem, an explanation or non-fiction piece and I can reedit it. 

∙ I can rewrite my work making improvements by saying the work out loud, using the best words I know and making sure I: use conjunctions such as when, before, after, while; use adverbs such as then, next and soon; use prepositions such as before, after, during, in and because. 

∙ I can use paragraphs to organise my writing so that blocks of text group related material.

∙ I can draft and write descriptive work that creates settings, characters and plots.

∙ I can draft and write material such as instructions, using headings and sub-headings to organise my work. 

∙ I can re-read my work to improve it for my audience. 

∙ I can re-read my work to improve it by thinking about changes to vocabulary and grammar to make it more interesting. 

∙ I can proof-read my work by reading aloud and putting in full stops. I can also add commas, question marks, exclamation marks and speech marks where needed. 

∙ I can read my work out to a group with confidence and make sure it sounds interesting using the right volume and tone of voice

∙ I can plan and improve my writing by discussing examples from other writers that I like, and looking at their use of sentence structure, words and grammar. 

∙ I can plan my writing by talking about the important parts to have in a story, poem, explanation or non-fiction piece, and I can redraft this work a number of times. 

∙ I can rewrite my work, making improvements by saying the work out loud, using the best words I know and the best sentence structures I can. 

∙ I can use paragraphs to organise my writing so that blocks of text flow and ideas are grouped together. 

∙ I can draft and rewrite work that creates settings, characters and plots that excite the reader by using my best vocabulary, and I can adapt my work depending on the audience. 

∙ I can organise my non-narrative writing so that it has headings and sub-headings. 

∙ I can assess my work, and that of others, and suggest improvements. 

∙ I can edit my work by changing the grammar to improve the way my work reads. 

∙ I can proof-read my writing for spelling and use of punctuation. 

∙ I can read my work out to a group with confidence and make sure it sounds interesting, controlling tone and volume so that its meaning is clear.

∙ I can plan my writing by identifying the audience for, and purpose of the writing, using other similar writing as models for my own work. 

∙ I can plan my writing by noting down and developing my initial ideas, drawing on reading other writing where necessary. 

∙ I can plan my writing of narratives by considering how authors have developed characters and settings in what the class have read, heard and seen in other stories, plays or films. 

∙ I can draft and write by selecting the correct grammar in my writing. I can use capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, apostrophes, brackets and hyphens correctly in my work. 

∙ I can write pieces describing settings, characters and atmosphere, and include speech that helps picture the character and their personality or mood. 

∙ I can draft and write by summarising longer passages. 

∙ I can draft and write by using words such as then, after that, this, firstly, to build connections in a paragraph. 

∙ I can draft and write by linking ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time e.g. later, place e.g. nearby, and number e.g. secondly, or tense choices e.g. he had seen her before. 

∙ I can set out my work correctly and use headings, bullet points, or underlining depending on the purpose of my writing e.g. letter, leaflet, information text, instructions. 

∙ I can use different verb forms with consideration for the audience and purpose. 

∙ I can give feedback on and improve my own writing and my classmates’ writing. 

∙ I can give feedback on and edit vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to make writing clearer. 

∙ I can mark and edit work to have the correct tense throughout. 

∙ I can mark and edit work to have the correct subject and verb agreement. 

∙ I can read work looking for spelling errors and correct them using a dictionary. 

∙ I can proof-read for punctuation errors, including the use of brackets and other devices, such as commas or hyphens, used for the same purpose. 

∙ I can perform my own work to a group with some confidence, changing the tone and volume of my voice to make the meaning clear

∙ I can change my writing to fit the audience and purpose and choose the correct form and change the language and sentence length for the purpose. ∙ I can plan my writing by recording my first thoughts and building on those ideas using what I have read or need to find out about as necessary. 

∙ I can plan a detailed character and/or setting to have an effect on the reader and use ideas from what I have read, heard and seen in other stories, plays or films. 

∙ I can use grammar and vocabulary which is suited to the purpose of my writing. 

∙ I can write pieces describing settings, characters and atmosphere and include speech that helps picture the character’s personality or mood as well as moving the action forward. 

∙ I can draft and write by accurately précising longer passages. 

∙ I can use different techniques to make my writing flow and link paragraphs. 

∙ I can set out my work using headings, sub-headings, columns, tables or bullet points to structure the text and to guide the reader. 

∙ I can give reasoned feedback on mine and others' work to improve it. 

∙ I can give reasoned feedback on a text and suggest changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to make the meaning clearer. 

∙ I can mark and edit work to have the correct tense throughout. 

∙ I can mark and edit work to have the correct subject and verb agreement. 

∙ I can read work looking for spelling errors and correct them using a dictionary. 

∙ I can proof-read for punctuation errors, including use of semicolons, colons, dashes, punctuation of bullet points in lists, and use of hyphens. 

∙ I can confidently perform my own work to a group and make sure it sounds interesting, controlling the tone and volume so that its meaning is clear.

Spelling

∙ I can break down spoken words into their sounds and spell some correctly. ∙ I can spell words containing each of the letter sounds I have been taught. ∙ I can spell some common exception words. 

∙ I can spell the days of the week. 

∙ I can name the letters of the alphabet in order. 

∙ I can name the letters of the alphabet using letter names to distinguish between alternative spellings of the same sound. 

∙ I know the plural rule and can use -s and -es in the right place. 

∙ I can add un- to the start of a word to make a different word. 

∙ I can add -ing, -ed, -er and -est to the end of a word to make a new word e.g. helping, helped, helper, eating, quicker, quickest. 

∙ I can use simple spelling rules. 

∙ I can write the correct spellings in simple sentences I hear my teacher say

∙ I can break down spoken words into their sounds and write them mostly correctly. 

∙ I can learn new spellings by using words I already know how to spell. 

∙ I can spell most common exception words. 

∙ I can spell most words which have been shortened. 

∙ I can spell words which use an apostrophe to show possession e.g. the girl’s book. 

∙ I can spell words that sound the same but are spelt differently e.g. buy, bye, by. 

∙ I can add the endings -ment, -ness, -ful, -less, -ly to spell some longer words. 

∙ I can write the correct spellings and punctuation in simple sentences I hear my teacher say. 

∙ I can add the endings -ment, -ness, -ful, -less, -ly to spell most longer words. 

∙ I can use simple spelling rules.

∙ I can use the prefixes un-, dis-, mis-, re-, pre-. 

∙ I can add suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one syllable e.g. forgetting, preferred, gardening, limited. 

∙ I can use the suffix -ly. 

∙ I can spell words with endings sounding like ‘zh’ and ‘ch’ e.g. treasure, measure, picture, nature. 

∙ I can spell words with endings which sound like ‘zhun’ e.g. division, decision. 

∙ I can spell words which sound the same but have different meanings such as brake/break, fair/fare, grate/great, groan/grown, here/hear, heel/heal/he’ll, mail/male, main/mane, meet/meat, peace/piece, plain/plane. 

∙ I can spell words that are often misspelt. 

∙ I can spell words containing the ‘i’ sound spelt ‘y’ elsewhere than at the end of words e.g. myth, gym. 

∙ I can spell words containing the ‘u’ sound spelt ‘ou’ e.g. young, touch, double. 

∙ I can spell words with the ‘k’ sound spelt ‘ch’ e.g. scheme, school, echo. 

∙ I can spell words with the ‘sh’ sound spelt ‘ch’ e.g. chef, machine. 

∙ I can spell words with the ‘ay’ sound spelt ‘ei’, ‘eigh’ or ‘ey’ e.g. eight, they. ∙ I can use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary. 

∙ I can write from memory simple sentences, dictated by the teacher, that include words and punctuation I already know

∙ I can use the prefixes in-, im-, il-, ir-, sub-, inter-, super-, anti-, auto-. 

∙ I can understand and add the suffixes -ation, -ous. 

∙ I can add endings which sound like ‘shun’ spelt -tion, -sion, - ssion, -cian e.g. invention, tension, discussion, magician. 

∙ I can spell words ending with the ‘g’ sound spelt ‘gue’ and the ‘k’ sound spelt -que e.g. rogue, tongue, antique, unique. 

∙ I can spell words which sound the same but have different meanings such as accept/except, affect/effect, ball/bawl, berry/bury, knot/not, medal/meddle, missed/mist, rain/rein/reign, scene/seen, weather/whether, whose/who’s.

∙ I can spell more complex words that are often misspelt e.g. caught, occasionally, interest. 

∙ I can spell words with the ‘s’ sound spelt ‘sc’ e.g. science, scene. 

∙ I can use the possessive apostrophe correctly in words with regular plurals e.g. girls’, boys’ and in words with irregular plurals. E.g. children’s. 

∙ I can use the first three or four letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary. 

∙ I can accurately write sentences from memory, dictated by the teacher, that include words and punctuation taught so far

∙ I can spell word endings which sound like ‘shus’ spelt -cious or - tious e.g. vicious, delicious, ambitious, cautious. 

∙ I can spell word endings which sound like ‘shil’ spelt -cial or -tial e.g. official, partial. 

∙ I can spell words ending in -ant, -ance/-ancy, -ent, -ence/-ency e.g. tolerant/tolerance, transparent/transparency. 

∙ I can spell words ending in -able and -ible, and also -ably and -ibly e.g. adorable, possible, adorably, possibly. ∙ I can spell words containing the letter-string ‘ough’ e.g. bought, rough, through, bough. 

∙ I can spell some words with ‘silent’ letters e.g. knight, psalm, solemn. 

∙ I can spell some more complex words correctly including words that are often misspelt. 

∙ I can use knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically. 

∙ I can use the first three or four letters of a word to check spelling, meaning, or both of these in a dictionary. 

∙ I can use a thesaurus.

∙ I can add suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in -fer e.g. referring, preferred, referee, preference. 

∙ I can use prefixes involving the use of a hyphen e.g. co-ordinate, re-enter. ∙ I can distinguish between words which sound the same but have different meanings and other words which are often confused. E.g. lose/loose. 

∙ I can use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words. 

∙ I can spell most words correctly including words that are often misspelt. 

∙ I can use knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically. 

∙ I can use a thesaurus with confidence.

Vocabulary, Grammar & Punctuation

∙ I can add -s or -es to words to make them plurals e.g. dog, dogs; wish, wishes. 

∙ I can add -ing and -er to the end of a word to make a new word e.g. helping, helper. 

∙ I can show you how un- added to the beginning of a word can change its meaning. 

∙ I can put words together to make sentences. 

∙ I can use joining words like ‘and’. 

∙ I can use spaces between words. 

∙ I can use capital letters and full stops. 

∙ I can use capital letters for names, places, the days of the week and the word ‘I’. 

∙ I can explain what these words mean: letter, capital letter, word, singular, plural, sentence, punctuation, full stop, question mark, exclamation mark.

∙ I can make new words by adding -ness and -er at the end of a word. I can make new words by putting two words together. E.g. whiteboard, superman. 

∙ I can make new words by adding -ful, -less to the end of a word e.g. helpful, helpless. 

∙ I can add these letter groups to the end of words: -er, -est, -ly e.g. smoother, smoothest, smoothly. 

∙ I can use these words in my writing: when, if, that, because, and, or, but. 

∙ I can use description in my writing e.g. the blue butterfly, plain flour, the man in the moon. 

∙ I can tell if a sentence is a question, command, exclamation or a statement. 

∙ I can use the correct tense in my writing. 

∙ I can use the correct verb form to indicate actions in progress in the present time or in the past e.g. she is drumming, he was shouting. 

∙ I can use capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to show where sentences start and end. ∙ I can use commas when I am writing a list. ∙ I can use apostrophes. I can use them to show where letters are missing and to show possession e.g. the girl’s hat. ∙ I can explain what these words mean: noun, noun phrase, statement, question, exclamation, command, compound, suffix, adjective, adverb, verb, tense (past, present), apostrophe and comma.

∙ I can create new words using a range of prefixes including super-, anti-, auto-. 

∙ I can understand when to use ‘a’ or ‘an’ in front of a word. 

∙ I can identify word families based on root words e.g. solve, solution, solver, dissolve, insoluble. 

∙ I can talk about time, place and cause using these words: when, while, so, because, then, next, soon, therefore, before, after, during, in, because of. 

∙ I can use paragraphs. 

∙ I can use headings and sub-headings. ∙ I can use the present perfect form of verbs e.g. He has gone out to play contrasted with He went out to play. 

∙ I can use speech marks correctly. 

∙ I can understand what the following words mean: preposition, conjunction, word family, prefix, clause, subordinate clause, direct speech, consonant, consonant letter vowel, vowel letter, inverted commas.

∙ I can explain the difference between the plural and the possessive -s. 

∙ I can use the correct form of the verb inflection e.g. we were instead of we was. 

∙ I can make my writing interesting by using adjectives and other descriptive methods. 

∙ I can use an adverb phrase at the start of a sentence e.g. Later that day, I heard the bad news. 

∙ I can use paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme. 

∙ I can use a mixture of pronouns and nouns in my writing to aid continuity and avoid words being repeated. 

∙ I can use inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech e.g. The conductor shouted, ‘Sit down!’. 

∙ I can use apostrophes to mark plural possession e.g. the girl’s name, the girls’ names. 

∙ I can use commas after adverbials at the beginning of a sentence e.g. Later that day, we heard the good news. 

∙ I can understand and use the following terms: determiner, pronoun, possessive pronoun, adverbial.

∙ I can change nouns or adjectives into verbs by adding suffixes such as -ate, -ise, -ify e.g. elasticate, standardise, solidify. 

∙ I can understand verb prefixes e.g. dis-, de-, mis-, over-, and re-. 

∙ I can add information to my sentences using relative clauses starting with: who, which, where, when, whose, that, or by missing out the pronoun. 

∙ I can use a wide range of different sentence structures. 

∙ I can indicate degrees of possibility using adverbs e.g. perhaps, surely, or modal verbs e.g. might, should, will, must. 

∙ I can use devices to build cohesion within a paragraph e.g. then, after that, this, firstly. 

∙ I can link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time e.g. later, place e.g. nearby, and number e.g. secondly, or tense choices e.g. he had seen her before. 

∙ I can use brackets and can also use dashes or commas for the same purpose. 

∙ I can use commas to make my writing clear to the reader. 

∙ I can understand the following terms: Modal verb, relative pronoun. Relative clause. Parenthesis, bracket, dash. Cohesion, ambiguity.

∙ I can change the vocabulary to suit the purpose such as using formal and informal language appropriately in my writing. 

∙ I can understand how words are related by meaning as synonyms and antonyms. 

∙ I can use the passive to affect the presentation of information in a sentence. 

∙ I can understand the difference between structures typical of informal speech and structures appropriate for formal speech and writing. 

∙ I can link ideas across paragraphs using a wide range of cohesive devices such repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections and ellipsis. ∙ I can use layout devices such as headings, sub-headings, columns, bullets, or tables, to structure text. 

∙ I can use the semi-colon, colon and dash to mark the boundary between independent clauses e.g. It’s raining; I’m fed up. 

∙ I can use the colon to introduce a list and use semi-colons within lists. 

∙ I can use bullet points to list information. 

∙ I can use hyphens for clarity e.g. man eating shark or man-eating shark. ∙ I can understand the following words: subject, object, active, passive, synonym, antonym, ellipsis, hyphen, colon, semi-colon and bullet points. 

∙ I can use the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause. 

∙ I can use expanded noun phrases to explain complicated information simply. 

∙ I can use the full range of punctuation I have been taught, including colons and semi-colons to mark the boundary between independent clauses.

Handwriting

Physical Development Fine Motor Skills 

∙ Hold a pencil comfortably using the tripod grip; 

∙ Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery; 

∙ Show accuracy and care when drawing and copying.

∙ I can sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly. 

∙ I can write lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place. 

∙ I can write capital letters. ∙ I can write numbers 0-10. 

∙ I can see which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’.

∙ I can write lower-case letters that are all the same size in most of my writing. 

∙ I can use the diagonal and horizontal strokes I need to join letters in most of my writing. 

∙ I know which letters, when they are next to one another, are best left un-joined. 

∙ I can write capital letters and numbers the right way up, and the correct size relative to each other and lower case letters. 

∙ I can use spacing between words that fits with the size of the letters.

∙ I can use more of the diagonal and horizontal strokes I need to join letters, and know which letters, when they are next to one another, are best left un-joined. 

∙ I can write so that most of my letters are easy to read, all the same way up and the same size. My writing is spaced properly so that my letters don’t overlap.

∙ I can use more of the diagonal and horizontal strokes I need to join letters, and know which letters, when they are next to one another, are best left un-joined. 

∙ I can write so that most of my letters are easy to read, all the same way up and the same size. My writing is spaced properly so that my letters don’t overlap.

∙ I can write increasingly legibly, fluently, and with increasing speed, through improving choices of which shape of a letter to use when given choices, and deciding whether or not to join specific letters. 

∙ I can write increasingly legibly, fluently, and with increasing speed, by choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task.

∙ I can 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. 

∙ I can write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task.