Topic summaries
Year One – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 1
Capital Letters and Full Stops
Pupils learn that a sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, with spaces between words, and that names and the word I take capitals.
Year One – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 1
Joining Words with 'and'
Pupils learn to join two words or ideas with the word 'and' to make one sentence.
Year One – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 1
One and More Than One (Plurals)
Pupils learn that singular means one and plural means more than one, usually formed by adding s or es.
Year One – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 1
Question Marks and Exclamation Marks
Pupils learn to end a question with a question mark and a strong feeling with an exclamation mark, choosing the right end mark.
Year One – Handwriting
Forming Letters and Letter Families
Pupils learn that each letter has a start point and correct movement, that letters group into families, and that capitals start at the top. Formation is practised on paper.
Year One – Handwriting
Sitting and Holding the Pencil
Pupils learn the good habits that make neat handwriting possible: sitting with good posture and holding the pencil with a comfortable, correct grip. Letter practice is done on paper.
Year One – Reading Comprehension
Joining In and Predicting
Pupils join in with repeated story words and make sensible predictions about what happens next.
Year One – Reading Comprehension
Reading Between the Lines
Pupils work out things the story does not say, using clues from what characters do, and support answers with a clue.
Year One – Reading Comprehension
Telling It Back
Pupils retell a familiar tale in order: beginning, middle and end, keeping the main parts.
Year One – Reading Comprehension
Understanding the Story
Pupils follow a simple story: who the characters are, what they do, and checking it makes sense as they read.
Year One – Reading Comprehension
Why the Title Matters
Pupils use the title and cover to work out what a book is about before reading.
Year One – Spelling
Adding –ing, –ed, –er, –est (No Change Needed)
Pupils learn to add the endings –ing, –ed, –er and –est to a root word when nothing else changes, and what each ending does.
Year One – Spelling
Adding –s and –es (More Than One)
Pupils learn to make words plural by adding s, and es after the sounds s, x, ch, sh and z.
Year One – Spelling
Spelling with the Sounds I Know
Pupils learn to spell simple words by breaking them into sounds (segmenting) and writing one letter, or letter team, for each sound.
Year One – Spelling
The Prefix un–
Pupils learn that the prefix un– is added to the start of a word and means not, or the opposite.
Year One – Spoken Language
Asking Good Questions
In this topic, pupils learn that questions help us find out more. They meet the six question words and choose the right one to ask about a person, place, time, thing, reason or way.
Year One – Spoken Language
Listening Carefully
In this topic, pupils learn what good listening looks like. They use their eyes, ears and body, sit still, stay quiet, wait for the speaker to finish, and then respond.
Year One – Spoken Language
Speaking in Full Sentences
In this topic, pupils learn that a full sentence tells a whole idea. They answer in full sentences and speak in a clear voice rather than a whisper.
Year One – Spoken Language
Taking Turns When We Talk
In this topic, pupils learn why we take turns when we talk. In a group, one person talks at a time, we put our hand up, we share fairly and we do not interrupt.
Year One – Vocabulary
New Words from Stories
Pupils learn that stories teach new words, that it is good to ask what a word means, and how a story can show a word's meaning.
Year One – Vocabulary
Talking About What Words Mean
Pupils learn to explain a word in their own way, link a new word to a known one, and use a new word in a sentence.
Year One – Vocabulary
Words That Mean the Same (Simple Synonyms)
Pupils learn that some words mean nearly the same and can be swapped, such as happy and glad, big and large.
Year One – Word Reading
Blending Sounds to Read Words
Pupils learn to sound out a word and blend the sounds smoothly into a whole word.
Year One – Word Reading
Reading Common Exception Words
Pupils learn that some common words do not follow the usual sounds and are read by sight.
Year One – Word Reading
Reading Words with Endings and Contractions
Pupils learn to read a root word with an added ending, and to read contractions where an apostrophe shows missing letters.
Year One – Word Reading
Sounds and Letters
Pupils learn that letters stand for sounds and that some letters team up to make one sound (a digraph), such as sh and ch.
Year One – Writing: Composition
Check It Makes Sense
Pupils re-read their writing, find a missing or wrong word, and mend it.
Year One – Writing: Composition
Putting Sentences in Order
Pupils write two or three sentences in the right order to tell a tiny story: first, then, last.
Year One – Writing: Composition
Say It, Then Write It
Pupils plan a sentence aloud, count its words, and then write it down.
Year Two – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 2
Describing with Noun Phrases and Adjectives
Pupils learn that a noun names a person, place or thing, an adjective describes a noun, and an expanded noun phrase adds detail.
Year Two – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 2
Four Kinds of Sentence
Pupils learn the four sentence types by their job and punctuation: statement, question, exclamation and command.
Year Two – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 2
Joining Sentences
Pupils learn that a verb is a doing or being word and that joining words such as and, but, or and because link ideas.
Year Two – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 2
Tenses, Commas and Apostrophes
Pupils learn the past and present tense, the progressive form, commas in a list, and the apostrophe for omission and singular possession.
Year Two – Handwriting
Beginning to Join
Pupils learn that letters are joined with diagonal and horizontal strokes, and that some letters are best left unjoined. Joining is practised on paper.
Year Two – Handwriting
Letter Size, Capitals, Digits and Spacing
Pupils learn that letters should be the correct size relative to one another, recognise ascenders and descenders, and space words to match letter size. Practised on paper.
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
Asking and Answering Questions
Pupils ask question-word questions about a text and answer them with evidence taken from the text.
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry
Pupils tell apart made-up stories, fact texts and poems, and say how they knew.
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
Making Inferences
Pupils infer what a character wants and feels from clues in what they do, and support the inference with 'because'.
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
Putting Events in Order
Pupils sequence the events of a text using time words, and notice how one event leads to the next.
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
Special Story Language
Pupils recognise special story language: openings, endings and repeated patterns, and use it in their own telling.
Year Two – Spelling
Adding Endings: When the Word Changes
Pupils learn the three rules for adding endings when the root word changes: change y to i, drop the e, and double the final consonant.
Year Two – Spelling
Contractions (The Apostrophe That Hides Letters)
Pupils learn that a contraction squashes two words into one, with an apostrophe marking the missing letters, and that it's always means it is.
Year Two – Spelling
Suffixes –ment, –ness, –ful, –less and –ly
Pupils learn to add common suffixes to root words, including the opposite pair –ful and –less, and –ly to make adverbs.
Year Two – Spelling
The Possessive Apostrophe and Common Homophones
Pupils learn the singular possessive apostrophe for belonging, and common homophones such as there and their.
Year Two – Spoken Language
Explaining Your Ideas
In this topic, pupils learn to explain an idea by giving a reason. They join an idea and a reason with the word because and keep their explanation clear.
Year Two – Spoken Language
Joining in a Discussion
In this topic, pupils learn to join a discussion by staying on the topic, building on others' ideas and disagreeing kindly.
Year Two – Spoken Language
Performing Out Loud
In this topic, pupils learn to perform a short poem for an audience. They practise the words and use expression by changing their voice to fit the words.
Year Two – Spoken Language
Telling It in Order
In this topic, pupils learn to tell a recount in order, with a beginning, a middle and an end. They use order words and add a detail to make their telling clear.
Year Two – Vocabulary
Clarifying What a Word Means
Pupils learn to use clues in a sentence to work out a word's meaning, check it makes sense, and see that some words have more than one meaning.
Year Two – Vocabulary
Favourite Words and Better Words
Pupils learn to collect interesting, vivid words and to choose a stronger word in place of a dull one.
Year Two – Vocabulary
Opposites (Simple Antonyms)
Pupils learn that some words are opposites (antonyms), and that the prefix un– can make an opposite.
Year Two – Word Reading
Alternative Spellings for Sounds
Pupils learn that one sound can be spelt in different ways, and that the same letters can make different sounds.
Year Two – Word Reading
Common Suffixes When Reading
Pupils learn to read a whole suffix on a known root word, recognising the suffix as one unit.
Year Two – Word Reading
Reading Longer Words by Syllable
Pupils learn to break a longer word into syllables (beats) and combine them to read the whole word.
Year Two – Word Reading
Reading Words Quickly and Smoothly
Pupils learn that reading a met word at a glance, smoothly and quickly, is reading fluently, and that re-reading helps.
Year Two – Writing: Composition
Checking and Improving
Pupils proof-read for capital letters, full stops and spelling, and improve one word.
Year Two – Writing: Composition
Planning Before You Write
Pupils jot key words before writing, then turn the plan into sentences.
Year Two – Writing: Composition
Writing a Short Story
Pupils write a short story with a character, a setting and events in order: beginning, middle and end.
Year Two – Writing: Composition
Writing for Different Reasons
Pupils recognise that writing has different purposes and match the form to the purpose: story, list, card, fact page.
Years Five – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 5
Building Cohesion
Pupils learn that cohesion is the way a text holds together, using linking words within a paragraph and adverbials across paragraphs.
Years Five – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 5
Modal Verbs and Possibility
Pupils learn that modal verbs express degrees of possibility and necessity, from might and could to will and must.
Years Five – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 5
Parenthesis: Brackets, Dashes and Commas
Pupils learn that a parenthesis is extra information marked with brackets, dashes or commas, and that punctuation can remove ambiguity.
Years Five – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 5
Relative Clauses
Pupils learn that a relative clause adds extra information about a noun and usually begins with a relative pronoun, set off by commas when non-essential.
Years Five and Six – Handwriting
Fluency and Speed
Pupils learn to write fluently and with increasing speed while staying legible, and to choose which letters to join for speed and clarity. Practised on paper.
Years Five and Six – Handwriting
Presentation: Choosing Style and Implement
Pupils learn to choose the right handwriting style (print or joined) and the right writing implement for a task and its purpose.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Advanced Inference and Evidence
Pupils make multi-step inferences about motive and feeling, where words and actions disagree, and select the best evidence from several candidates.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Comparing and Evaluating Texts
Pupils compare two texts on the same event — purpose, viewpoint and language — and evaluate which achieves its aim more effectively, with evidence.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Fact vs Opinion
Pupils separate checkable facts from opinions in persuasive writing, using the check test and the signal words that give opinions away.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
How Authors Use Language
Pupils identify figurative language — simile, metaphor, personification — and explain the effect of the author's word choices.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Stretch Grammar – Multiple-Choice Tactics
Pupils dissect multiple-choice questions: eliminating distractors by type, checking the survivor against the text, and never leaving blanks.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Stretch Grammar – The 11+ Unseen Paper: Question Types and Timing
Pupils learn the five question families of the 11+ unseen paper, budget time by marks, and follow the exam order of operations.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Stretch Independent – Pre-1914 Prose and Archaic Vocabulary
Pupils read pre-1914 prose confidently: chunking long sentences at their punctuation, and solving archaic vocabulary from context, practised on Dickens.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Stretch Independent – Unseen Poetry
Pupils read an unseen poem with a method: feelings first, then devices tied to effects, practised on Tennyson's The Eagle.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Summarising Across Paragraphs
Pupils précis a multi-paragraph text: one key idea per paragraph, joined into a single faithful summary.
Years Five and Six – Spelling
Endings –able/–ible and –ant/–ent
Pupils learn to choose between the lookalike endings –able/–ible and –ant/–ent, using the guide that –able often follows a whole root word.
Years Five and Six – Spelling
Endings –cious/–tious and –cial/–tial
Pupils learn to spell the 'shus' sound as –cious or –tious and the 'shul' sound as –cial after a vowel or –tial after a consonant, noting exceptions.
Years Five and Six – Spelling
Homophones, the Hyphen and the Year 5/6 Statutory List
Pupils learn to tell apart tricky homophones, use the hyphen to join a prefix to a root, and spell hard statutory Year 5/6 words.
Years Five and Six – Spelling
Silent Letters
Pupils learn that some letters are written but not sounded, and that these silent letters must be memorised.
Years Five and Six – Spoken Language
Building on Others' Ideas in Group Discussion
Pupils learn to collaborate in a group: contributing ideas, inviting quieter members, summarising before adding, building on others and moving towards consensus.
Years Five and Six – Spoken Language
Formal Presentations
Pupils learn to plan and deliver a structured formal talk with an introduction, main points and a conclusion, using cue cards, eye contact, pace and projection. Preparatory for 11+ interviews.
Years Five and Six – Spoken Language
Standard English vs Informal Talk
Pupils learn to choose a register to match the situation and to use Standard English in formal contexts, replacing common non-standard forms.
Years Five and Six – Spoken Language
Stretch Grammar – Answering an Unseen Question Fully
Pupils learn a four-part structure (point, reason, example, link) for answering an unfamiliar question aloud in full, take polite thinking time, and reason aloud when they do not know.
Years Five and Six – Spoken Language
Stretch Independent – The Interview: Reading Aloud and Discussing a Passage
Pupils prepare for the independent-school interview: reading an unseen passage aloud with pace and expression, handling an unfamiliar word without stopping, and discussing the passage with an opinion backed by evidence.
Years Five and Six – Spoken Language
Taking Part in a Debate
Pupils learn to debate a motion: making an argument supported by evidence, responding with a counter-argument, and persuading the audience with respectful disagreement.
Years Five and Six – Vocabulary
Antonyms and Word Opposites
Pupils learn that antonyms create contrast, that some opposites are made with a prefix, and how to solve odd-one-out puzzles.
Years Five and Six – Vocabulary
Figurative Language and Precise Word Choice
Pupils learn to recognise figurative language (simile, metaphor, idiom) and to replace dull, vague words with precise, vivid ones.
Years Five and Six – Vocabulary
Formal vs Informal Vocabulary
Pupils learn to choose vocabulary that matches the register of the situation, converting informal words to formal ones.
Years Five and Six – Vocabulary
Stretch Grammar – 11+ Verbal Reasoning: Closest Meaning, Opposites and Odd One Out
Pupils master the three vocabulary question shapes of 11+ verbal reasoning, closest meaning, opposite meaning and odd one out, with elimination, the swap test and speed.
Years Five and Six – Vocabulary
Stretch Independent – Advanced Vocabulary: Latinate and Literary Words
Pupils acquire ten advanced words that independent-school papers favour, learning each by root, context and use, and avoiding false friends.
Years Five and Six – Vocabulary
Synonyms and Shades of Meaning
Pupils learn that synonyms are rarely identical, carry different shades of meaning, and that a skilled writer chooses the most precise word.
Years Five and Six – Word Reading
Roots and Word Origins to Decode Unfamiliar Words
Pupils learn to use known roots and word origins from older languages to read and understand unfamiliar words, recognising whole word families.
Years Five and Six – Word Reading
Stretch Grammar – Latin and Greek Roots at Speed
Pupils drill the ten highest-yield Latin and Greek roots for 11+ unseen vocabulary, combine them with known prefixes and suffixes to work out unfamiliar words in seconds, and reject false roots with the sense check.
Years Five and Six – Writing: Composition
Audience, Purpose and Form
Pupils identify audience and purpose before writing and choose the form, tone and features that fit.
Years Five and Six – Writing: Composition
Cohesion and Précis
Pupils link sentences and paragraphs with cohesive devices, and condense a passage into a précis.
Years Five and Six – Writing: Composition
Editing for Effect (Exam-Style)
Pupils polish writing under timed conditions: openings, endings, vocabulary upgrades, sentence variety and error sweep.
Years Five and Six – Writing: Composition
Integrating Dialogue
Pupils write dialogue that reveals character and moves the story, punctuated correctly and balanced with action.
Years Five and Six – Writing: Composition
Setting, Character and Atmosphere
Pupils create atmosphere through setting and character, showing rather than telling, with precise sensory detail.
Years Five and Six – Writing: Composition
Stretch Grammar – The 11+ Writing Task: Plan in Five Minutes
Pupils learn the five-minute plan for a timed 11+ writing task: read the task, choose form, five-box plan, and budget the clock.
Years Five and Six – Writing: Composition
Stretch Independent – Continue the Story and Describe the Picture
Pupils master the two independent-school task types: continuing a given extract in its voice, and writing a description from a picture prompt.
Years Five and Six – Writing: Composition
Stretch Independent – Openings That Win Marks
Pupils craft story openings for independent-school papers: in-the-moment starts, sensory hooks, a want and a question, and what to avoid.
Years Six – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 6
Formal Structures: Subjunctive and Question Tags
Pupils learn to choose formal structures, including the subjunctive, and to recognise question tags common in informal speech.
Years Six – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 6
Hyphens, Bullet Points and Ellipsis
Pupils learn that a hyphen joins words to avoid confusion, bullet points list items clearly, and an ellipsis shows omission or a pause.
Years Six – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 6
Semicolons, Colons and Dashes
Pupils learn that a semi-colon joins related complete sentences, a colon introduces a list or explanation, and a dash adds emphasis.
Years Six – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 6
Stretch Grammar – 11+ SPaG Under Pressure: Spot the Error
Pupils master the 11+ error-spotting question: sentences split into parts, one part containing a punctuation, spelling or grammar error, or no error at all, solved at speed.
Years Six – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 6
Stretch Independent – Word Classes and Sentence Analysis
Pupils identify word classes in context, including words that change class, and analyse sentences into subject, verb, object, phrases and clauses, as independent-school papers require.
Years Six – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 6
The Passive Voice
Pupils learn the difference between active and passive voice, identifying subject and object, and how the passive changes emphasis and can hide the doer.
Years Three and Four – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 3
Conjunctions, Adverbs and Prepositions
Pupils learn that a conjunction joins ideas, a clause contains a verb, a subordinate clause cannot stand alone, and adverbs and prepositions add detail about time, place and cause.
Years Three and Four – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 3
Direct Speech and Inverted Commas
Pupils learn to punctuate direct speech with inverted commas, a comma after the reporting words, and end punctuation inside the speech marks.
Years Three and Four – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 3
Fronted Adverbials and Their Commas
Pupils learn that an adverbial tells how, when or where, and that a fronted adverbial opens a sentence and is followed by a comma.
Years Three and Four – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 4
Possessive Apostrophes and Standard English
Pupils learn possessive pronouns and the possessive apostrophe, and how to correct non-standard forms to Standard English.
Years Three and Four – Grammar & Punctuation - Case 4
Pronouns, a/an and Determiners
Pupils learn to use pronouns to avoid repetition, choose a or an correctly, and recognise the determiner before a noun.
Years Three and Four – Handwriting
Joining Letters Consistently
Pupils learn to join letters consistently with diagonal and horizontal strokes, leaving some unjoined, to make handwriting fluent. Practised on paper.
Years Three and Four – Handwriting
Legibility and Quality
Pupils learn to increase legibility and quality: parallel down-strokes, even sizing, and keeping ascenders and descenders from touching. Practised on paper.
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
Finding the Main Idea
Pupils find what a paragraph is mostly about, and separate the main idea from the details that support it.
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
How Texts Are Built
Pupils use titles, headings, paragraphs and topic sentences to navigate a text and retrieve information quickly.
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
Inference and Evidence
Pupils make inferences about characters and justify every one with the answer-plus-evidence formula, quoting the text.
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
Summarising
Pupils squeeze a passage into a short summary, keeping the key points and dropping the small details.
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
Words in Context & Prediction
Pupils work out unfamiliar words from surrounding context, and make predictions justified by evidence in the text.
Years Three and Four – Spelling
More Prefixes (dis–, mis–, in– and re–)
Pupils learn a fuller set of prefixes: dis–, mis– and in– often make negatives, while re– means again. Most attach with no change to the root.
Years Three and Four – Spelling
Suffixes –ation, –ous and –ly on Longer Words
Pupils learn to add the suffixes –ation, –ous and –ly to longer roots, noting that the spelling sometimes shifts.
Years Three and Four – Spelling
The Year 3/4 Statutory Word List and the Plural Apostrophe
Pupils learn key words from the statutory Year 3/4 list and the plural possessive apostrophe (the girls' coats).
Years Three and Four – Spelling
Tricky Sound–Spellings (y for the i sound, ou for the u sound)
Pupils learn unusual spellings that must be learnt by heart: y making a short i sound, and ou making a short u sound.
Years Three and Four – Spoken Language
Giving a Clear Explanation
Pupils learn to explain a process in clear, ordered steps, using sequencing connectives and checking that the listener has understood.
Years Three and Four – Spoken Language
Justifying an Opinion with Reasons
Pupils learn to tell opinion from fact and to justify an opinion with more than one reason.
Years Three and Four – Spoken Language
Role Play and Improvisation
Pupils learn to take on a role, stay in character, improvise a short scene without a script, and use voice and gesture to show feeling.
Years Three and Four – Spoken Language
Speculating and Hypothesising
Pupils learn to make sensible, reasoned guesses about what could happen, using the language of possibility and basing predictions on clues.
Years Three and Four – Vocabulary
Using a Dictionary
Pupils learn to find a word in a dictionary using alphabetical order and first letters, and to read its entry and definition.
Years Three and Four – Vocabulary
Word Families and Root Words
Pupils learn that related words share a root, forming a word family, and that knowing one word helps them understand a relative.
Years Three and Four – Vocabulary
Working Out Words in Context
Pupils learn to use the context — the words around a new word — to work out its meaning and check that it makes sense.
Years Three and Four – Word Reading
Prefixes and Suffixes for Reading
Pupils learn to read longer words by spotting their parts — prefix, root and suffix — which speeds reading and unlocks meaning.
Years Three and Four – Word Reading
Reading Further Exception Words
Pupils learn to read harder words where the spelling does not match the expected sound, noticing where the oddity sits.
Years Three and Four – Writing: Composition
Creating Setting, Character and Plot
Pupils create a vivid setting and a character with wants, and shape a plot with a problem and a resolution.
Years Three and Four – Writing: Composition
Editing and Improving
Pupils assess their writing against its purpose and re-weave for consistency of tense, person and tone.
Years Three and Four – Writing: Composition
Organising into Paragraphs
Pupils group related sentences into paragraphs and start a new paragraph for a change of time, place, topic or person.
Years Three and Four – Writing: Composition
Planning from a Model
Pupils study a model text before planning, borrowing its structure and features rather than its words.