Essential Opportunities Writing
Milestone 1
Narrative
Year 1
Write narrative diaries.
• Write stories set in places pupils have been.
• Write stories with imaginary settings.
• Write stories and plays that use the language of fairy tales and traditional
tales.
• Write stories that mimic significant authors.
• Write stories and plays that
use the language of fairy
tales and traditional tales
. • Write stories that mimic
significant authors.
Year2
• Write stories set in places
pupils have been
. • Write stories that mimic
significant authors.
• Write narrative diaries.
Non-fiction
• Write labels.
• Write lists.
• Write captions.
• Write instructions.
• Write recounts.
• Write glossaries.
• Present information.
• Write non-chronological reports.
Write labels.
• Write lists.
• Write captions.
• Write instructions.
• Write recounts.
Write instructions.
• Write recounts.
• Write glossaries.
• Present information.
• Write non-chronological
reports.
Poetry
• Write poems that use pattern, rhyme and description.
• Write nonsense and humorous poems and limericks.
Write poems that use
pattern,
Write nonsense and
humorous poems and
limericks.
• Write poems that use
pattern, rhyme and
description.
Note:
Only the following are statutory at KS1:




personal experiences
real events
poetry
different purposes.
Essential Learning Writing
Skills
Milestone 1
Composition
To write with
purpose
To use
imaginative
description
• Say first and then write to tell others about
ideas.
Develop positive attitudes
towards and stamina for
writing by:
• Plan by talking about ideas and writing
notes.
composing a sentence orally
before writing it
• Use some of the characteristic features of
the type of writing used.
sequencing sentences to
form short narratives
• Write, review and improve.
• Use adjectives to add detail.
re-reading what they have
written to check that it
makes sense
writing poetry
discuss what they have
written with the teacher or
other pupils
consider what they are
going to write before
beginning by:
Read aloud their writing
clearly enough to be heard
by their peers and the
teacher.
Planning or saying out loud
what they are going to write
about
• Use names of people, places and things.
• Use adverbs for extra detail.
• Re-read writing to check it makes sense.
• Use the correct tenses.
• Organise writing in line with its purpose.
• Write about more than one idea.
• Group related information.
To use
sentences
appropriately
Write sentences by:
• Write for a variety of purposes.
• Use nouns and pronouns for variety.
To use
paragraphs
Year 2
saying out loud what they
are going to write about
• Use well-chosen adjectives.
To organise
writing
appropriately
Year 1
• Write so that other people can
understand the meaning of sentences.
writing narratives about
personal experiences and
those of others (real and
fictional)
writing about real events
writing for different purposes
Writing down ideas and/or
key words, including new
vocabulary
Encapsulating what they
want to say, sentence by
sentence
Make simple additions,
revisions and corrections to
their own writing by:
Evaluating their writing with
• Sequence sentences to form a
short narrative.
the teacher and other pupils
Re-reading to check that
their writing makes sense
and that verbs to indicate
time are used correctly and
consistently, including verbs
in the continuous form
• Convey ideas sentence by sentence.
• Join sentences with conjunctions
and connectives.
• Vary the way sentences begin.
Proof-reading to check for
errors in spelling, grammar
and punctuation [for
example, ends of sentences
punctuated correctly]
Read aloud what they have
written with appropriate
intonation to make the
meaning clear.
Transcription
To present
neatly
• Sit correctly and hold a pencil correctly.
• Begin to form lower-case letters correctly.
• Form capital letters.
• Form digits 0-9.
• Understand letters that are formed in similar
ways.
• Form lower-case letters of a consistent size.
• Begin to join some letters.
• Write capital letters and digits of consistent
size.
• Use spacing between words that reflects the
size of the letters.
Sit correctly at a table,
holding a pencil comfortably
and correctly
Form lower-case letters of
the correct size relative to
one another
Begin to form lower-case
letters in the correct
direction, starting and
finishing in the right place
Start using some of the
diagonal and horizontal
strokes needed to join
letters and understand
which letters, when adjacent
to one another, are best left
unjoined
Form capital letters
Form digits 0-9
Understand which letters
belong to which handwriting
‘families’ and to practise
these.
Write capital letters and
digits of the correct size,
orientation and relationship
to one another and to lower
case letters
Use spacing between words
that reflects the size of the
letters.
To spell
correctly
• Spell words containing 40+ learned
phonemes.
Name the letters of the
alphabet:
• Spell common exception words (the, said,
one, two and the days of the week).
Add prefixes and suffixes:
• Name letters of the alphabet in order.
• Use letter names to describe spellings of
words.
• Add prefixes and suffixes, learning the rule
for adding s and es as a plural marker for
nouns, and the third person singular marker
for verbs (I drink - he drinks).
Apply simple spelling rules
and guidance, as listed in
English Appendix 1
Write from memory simple
sentences dictated by the
teacher that include words
using the GPCs and
common exception words
taught so far.
Revision of work from YR
• Use the prefix un.
• Use suffixes where no change to the spelling
of the root word is needed: helping, helped,
helper, eating, quicker, quickest.
• Use spellings rules.
• Write simple sentences dictated by the
teacher.
• Spell by segmenting words into phonemes
and represent them with the correct
graphemes.
• Learn some new ways to represent
phonemes.
• Spell common exception words correctly.
• Spell contraction words correctly (can’t,
don’t).
Sounds – f, l, s, z, k, ff, ll, ss,
zz, ck, nk, tch, v (at the end
of a word –n have), ai, oi,
ay, oy, a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e,
u_e, ar,ee, ea, er, ir, ur, oo,
oa,ou, ow, ue, ew, ie, igh,
or, ore, aw, au, air, ear, are,
ph, wh, y (words ending in y
happy)
Division of words into
syllables, adding s and es to
words for plurals
adding ing, ed and er to
verbs where no root change
is needed, adding er and est
to adjective where no
change root change is
needed, adding the prefix
un, compound words,
common exception words
spell by:
Segmenting spoken words
into phonemes and
representing these by
graphemes, spelling many
correctly
Learning new ways of
spelling phonemes for which
one or more spellings are
already known, and learn
some words with each
spelling, including a few
common homophones
Learning to spell common
exception words
Learning to spell more
words with contracted forms
learning the possessive
apostrophe (singular) [for
example, the girl’s book]
distinguishing between
homophones and nearhomophones
add suffixes to spell longer
words, including –ment, –
ness, –ful, –less, –ly
Apply spelling rules and
guidance, as listed in
English Appendix 1
Write from memory simple
sentences dictated by the
teacher that include words
using the GPCs, common
• Add suffixes to spell longer words (-ment, ness, -ful and -less).
• Use the possessive apostrophe. (singular)
(for example, the girl's book)
• Distinguish between homophones and nearhomophones.
the, a, do, to, today, of, said,
says,
are, were, was, is, his, has,
I, you,
your, they, be, he, me, she,
we, no,
go, so, by, my, here, there,
where,
love, come, some, one,
once, ask,
friend, school, put, push,
pull, full,
house, our – and/or others,
according to the programme
used
exception words and
punctuation taught so far.
Revision of work from YR
and Y1
Sounds – dge, ge, g, s
sound spelt c before e, i,
and y, Kn and gn, wr, le, el,
al, il, y at the end of words,
al, all, o as in other, ey, the
a after w and qu, or as in
word, ar as in war, the s in
television, tion
Adding es to nouns and
verbs, ending in y, adding
ed, ing, er and est to a root
word ending in y with a
consonant before it, adding
ing, ed, er, est and y to
words of one syllable ending
in a single consonant letter
after a single vowel letter,
suffixes ment, ness, ful, less
and ly, contraction,
possessive apostrophes for
singular nouns,
Homophones and near
homophones, common
exception words
door, floor, poor, because,
find, kind, mind, behind,
child, children*, wild, climb,
most, only, both, old, cold,
gold, hold, told, every,
everybody, even, great,
break, steak, pretty,
beautiful, after, fast, last,
past, father, class, grass,
pass, plant, path, bath,
hour, move, prove, improve,
sure, sugar, eye, could,
should, would, who, whole,
any, many, clothes, busy,
people, water, again, half,
money, Mr, Mrs, parents,
Christmas – and/or others
according to programme
used.
To punctuate
accurately
• Leave spaces between words.
• Use the word ‘and’ to join words and
sentences.
• Begin to punctuate using a capital letter for
the name of people, places, the days of the
week and I.
• Use both familiar and new punctuation
correctly, including full stops, capital letters,
exclamation marks, question marks, commas
for lists and apostrophes for contracted forms.
• Use sentences with different forms:
statement, question, exclamation and
command.
• Use extended noun phrases to describe and
specify (e.g. the blue butterfly).
• Use subordination (when, if, that or
because).
• Use coordination (or, and, but).
• Use some features of standard written
English.
• Use the present and past tenses correctly,
Word
Regular plural noun suffixes,
suffixes – ‘ed’, ‘ing’, ‘er’,
Prefix ‘un’ changes verbs
and adjectives
Sentence
Words combine to make
sentences, joining words
and clauses using ‘and’
Text
Sequencing sentences to
form short narratives
Punctuation
Spaces to separate words,
introduce capital letters, full
stops, question marks and
explanation marks to
demark sentences, capital
letters for names and I
Terminology
Letter, capital letter, word,
singular plural, sentence,
punctuation, full stop,
question mark, explanation
mark
Word
Formation of nouns using
suffixes such as ‘ness’, ‘er’
and by compounding,
formation of adjectives using
suffixes such as ‘ful, ‘less’,
use of suffixes ‘er’ and ‘est’
in adjectives and ‘ly’ to turn
adjectives into adverbs
Sentence
Subordination – when, if,
that, because and
coordination or, and, but.
Expanded noun phrases for
description and
specification, Understand
how grammatical patterns in
a sentence indicate its
function as a statement,
question, explanation or
command
Text
correct choice and
consistence use of present
and past tense, progressive
form of verbs in present and
past to mark actions in
progress
including the progressive form.
Punctuation
Use of capital letters, full
stops, question marks and
exclamation marks to
demark sentences, commas
to separate items in a list,
apostrophes to make
missing letters and singular
possession in nouns
Terminology
noun, noun phrase,
statement, question,
exclamation, command,
compound, adjective, verb,
suffix, adverb, tense (past
and present), apostrophe,
comma
Analysis and presentation
To analyse
writing
• Discuss writing with the teacher and
other pupils.
• Use and understand grammatical
terminology in discussing writing:
• word, sentence, letter, capital letter, full
stop, punctuation, singular, plural, question
mark, exclamation mark.
• Use and understand grammatical
terminology in discussing writing:
To present
writing
• verb, tense (past, present),
adjective, noun, suffix, apostrophe, comma.
• Read aloud writing clearly enough to be
heard by peers and the teacher.
• Read aloud writing with some intonation.