Trial Curriculum
Sample curriculum available during the 14-day free trial.
121 topic summaries
Topic summaries
Year Five – Grammar: Case 5, The Hidden Clause
Building Cohesion
Pupils learn that cohesion is the way a text holds together, using linking words within a paragraph and adverbials across paragraphs.
Year Five – Grammar: Case 5, The Hidden Clause
Modal Verbs and Possibility
Pupils learn that modal verbs express degrees of possibility and necessity, from might and could to will and must.
Year Five – Grammar: Case 5, The Hidden Clause
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.
Year Five – Grammar: Case 5, The Hidden Clause
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.
Year One – Grammar & Punctuation
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
Joining Words with 'and'
Pupils learn to join two words or ideas with the word 'and' to make one sentence.
Year One – Grammar & Punctuation
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
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
Finding the Answer in the Text
Pupils read a short story and find answers that are written directly in the text (literal retrieval).
Year One – Reading Comprehension
How Does the Character Feel?
Pupils read a short story and work out how a character feels, even when the story does not say it directly (simple inference).
Year One – Reading Comprehension
What Does This Word Mean?
Pupils read a short story and work out what a word means from the words around it (vocabulary in context).
Year One – Reading Comprehension
What Happened First, Next and Last
Pupils read a short story and put the events in the order they happened (sequencing).
Year One – Reading Comprehension
What Might Happen Next
Pupils read the start of a story and predict what might happen next, using clues from the text.
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
Reading It Back and Checking
Pupils learn to read their writing back, check it makes sense, and fix missing words or punctuation.
Year One – Writing Composition
Saying It Before Writing It
Pupils learn to plan a sentence by saying it out loud before writing it, focusing on one idea at a time.
Year One – Writing Composition
Sequencing Sentences (Beginning, Middle, End)
Pupils learn to put sentences in a sensible order so a short story has a beginning, a middle and an end.
Year One – Writing Composition
Writing a Simple Sentence
Pupils learn to write a complete sentence that makes sense, with a capital letter, a full stop and finger spaces.
Year Six – Grammar: The Master Case
Formal Structures: Subjunctive and Question Tags
Pupils learn to choose formal structures, including the subjunctive, and to recognise question tags common in informal speech.
Year Six – Grammar: The Master Case
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.
Year Six – Grammar: The Master Case
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.
Year Six – Grammar: The Master Case
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.
Year Two – Grammar & Punctuation
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
Four Kinds of Sentence
Pupils learn the four sentence types by their job and punctuation: statement, question, exclamation and command.
Year Two – Grammar & Punctuation
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
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
Answering 'Why' and 'How' Questions
Pupils read an information text and answer 'why' and 'how' questions, working out reasons from the facts (inference).
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
Finding Facts in an Information Text
Pupils read a short information text and find facts that are stated directly in it (retrieval).
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
Using Headings, Captions and Labels
Pupils learn to use text features — a heading, a caption and labels — to find their way around an information text.
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
What Is It Mostly About?
Pupils read an information text and work out the main idea — what the whole text is mostly about.
Year Two – Reading Comprehension
Working Out Words in a Fact Text
Pupils read an information text and work out what a new word means from the words around it (vocabulary in context).
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
Adding Description with Adjectives
Pupils learn to add description using adjectives to give detail and paint a picture for the reader.
Year Two – Writing Composition
Planning by Talking and Noting Ideas
Pupils learn to gather ideas by talking, jot quick notes, and put the ideas in a sensible order as a plan.
Year Two – Writing Composition
Writing a Short Narrative
Pupils learn that a narrative is a made-up story with a character, a setting and a problem to solve.
Year Two – Writing Composition
Writing About Real Events (a Recount)
Pupils learn that a recount retells a real event in order, using time words to guide the reader.
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
Comparing Within and Across Texts
Pupils compare how two different authors present a fearsome creature, using evidence from both texts.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Evaluating and Responding to a Text
Pupils form a justified opinion about a character, supporting their view with evidence from the text.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
Inference and Deduction
Pupils read a demanding classic extract, infer a character's true nature, and justify the inference with a quotation from the text.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
The Author's Viewpoint and Purpose
Pupils analyse the narrator's viewpoint and the author's purpose in a classic extract.
Years Five and Six – Reading Comprehension
The Author's Word Choice and Its Effect
Pupils analyse an author's specific word choices and explain the effect they create.
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
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
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 – Writing Composition
Cohesive Devices Across a Text
Pupils learn that cohesive devices link ideas within and across paragraphs to make writing flow.
Years Five and Six – Writing Composition
Editing, Revising and Evaluating
Pupils learn to revise a draft for structure and impact, proofread for errors, and evaluate writing against its purpose.
Years Five and Six – Writing Composition
Figurative Language and Show, Don't Tell
Pupils learn to use figurative language and 'show, don't tell' to create vivid images and convey feeling.
Years Five and Six – Writing Composition
Planning for Purpose and Audience
Pupils learn to plan writing around its purpose and audience, which shape the form and register.
Years Three and Four – Grammar: Case 3, The Clause
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: Case 3, The Clause
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: Case 3, The Clause
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: Case 4, The Pronoun
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: Case 4, The Pronoun
Pronouns, a/an and the Present Perfect
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
How the Text Is Organised
Pupils read a classic story extract and explain how the text is organised, including its repeated pattern (structure).
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
Predicting with Evidence
Pupils read a classic story extract and predict what is about to happen, using evidence from the text (prediction).
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
Reading Between the Lines
Pupils read a classic story extract and infer a character's situation and feelings from clues in the text (inference with evidence).
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
Summarising the Main Points
Pupils read a classic story extract and summarise the main events in a few sentences (summary).
Years Three and Four – Reading Comprehension
Working Out Meaning from Context
Pupils read a classic story extract and work out the meaning of vivid words from the context (vocabulary).
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
Description: Setting and Character
Pupils learn to describe a setting using the senses and to show a character through actions rather than telling.
Years Three and Four – Writing Composition
Editing and Proofreading
Pupils learn to edit writing to improve it and to proofread for spelling and punctuation errors.
Years Three and Four – Writing Composition
Openings and Endings
Pupils learn to write a hook that grabs the reader and an ending that resolves the story.
Years Three and Four – Writing Composition
Planning and Organising Paragraphs
Pupils learn that a paragraph groups sentences about one idea, and that a plan groups ideas into paragraphs.