Progression Guidance in English for Year 5
Grammatical Skills - Knowledge and skills: awareness, sentence construction and punctuation
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Improve skills in organisation of logical paragraphs;
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use connectives more effectively to link sentences and paragraphs, to improve fluency of writing and cohesion of the whole piece (sticking together);
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play with sentence order, exploring how changes affect the reader;
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use punctuation accurately in complex sentences; use a comma to clarify meaning;
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regularly investigate main clauses and subordinate clauses within sentences;
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confidently identify sentences which are statements, questions or commands;
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quickly identify a clause or phrase (a phrase has no verb);
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introduce the idea that a relative clause begins with: who, which, where, why, that, whose
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regularly use the term word classes when discussing nouns, adjectives etc;
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convert nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes e.g. ate, ise, ify;
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introduce modal verbs which indicate the degree of possibility e.g. might, should, will, or must. Also identify adverbs such as ‘perhaps’ or ‘surely’;
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link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials e.g. later, nearby, secondly;
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use the term imperative verb when reading/writing instructions;
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introduce the idea of an active or passive verb in a sentence, e.g. Dad took our photographs. Our photographs were taken.
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discuss terms of layout, such as table, textbox, bullet point, sub-heading;
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revise the term determiner when referring to ‘a, an, the, this, that or those’; mention that the words ‘a’ and ‘an’ are also called indefinite articles and ‘the’
is a definite article. These words (a, an, the) are determiners and articles.
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consider how prefixes are added to verbs to change their meaning, e.g. dis_ de_ mis_ over_ and re_ ; discover; detoxify; misunderstand; overtake;
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change nouns or adjectives into verbs by adding suffixes e.g. _ate, _ise, _ify; generation – generate; intense – intensify; category – categorise;
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introduce the concept of ‘ambiguity’ when a question is left in the air
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introduce the idea of the future tense; will be going, shall dine;
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reiterate the importance of subject/verb agreement; I am, you are, we were; I did, you did, they did; I was, you were, he was, they were;
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develop confidence to identify a preposition within a sentence;
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use the term parenthesis for an embedded clause of extra information; become familiar with ways to punctuate this using commas, brackets or dashes;
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become familiar with the term apostrophe for possession for singular and plural nouns; introduce more problematic apostrophes for some collective
nouns, e.g. the children’s coats; the firemen’s engine; the women’s club;
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develop confidence to identify reported speech (indirect) and direct speech; e.g. James said that he didn’t want to join in; James said, “I don’t want to
join in.”
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use a colon before a list (e.g. of ingredients in baking) or before speech;
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use the term antonym for words which are opposite in meaning;
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avoid double negatives; know that neither correlates with nor, and either with or;
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know the term Standard English;
use a dictionary and thesaurus to define words and to collect a variety of words to support writing;
Handwriting and Presentation
Handwriting and Presentation
Pupils should be taught to:
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write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by:
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choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters
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choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task.
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Non statutory: Pupils should continue to practise handwriting and be encouraged to increase the speed of it, so that problems with forming letters do
not get in the way of their writing down what they want to say.
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They should be clear about what standard of handwriting is appropriate for a particular task, for example, quick notes or a final handwritten version.
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They should also be taught to use an unjoined style, for example, for labelling a diagram or data, writing an email address, or for algebra and capital
letters, for example, for filling in a form.
Reading – Comprehension
Knowledge, skills and understanding
Pupils should be taught to:
How comprehension can be supported by adults; routines and resources
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maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read
by:
fiction, fiction from our literary heritage and books from other cultures.
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continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction,
poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks
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Discuss and review books read.
reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a
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Read, enjoy and perform a repertoire of poetry, reciting some poems by
increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including
myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from
our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions
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recommending books that they have read to their peers, giving
heart.
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identifying and discussing themes and conventions in and across a
Use shared/group reading as an opportunity to infer characters’ feelings
and motivations; justify opinions by locating evidence in the text.
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Role play characters by activities such as hot seating or conscience
corridor, in order to understand their point of view.
reasons for their choices
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Practitioners to keep up-to-date knowledge of contemporary fiction and
retellings of other works.
range of purposes
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Broaden the texts that children read and discuss to include modern
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Read aloud class story up to a given point, discuss predict and write
about what might happen next.
wide range of writing
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making comparisons within and across books
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Model how to identify key words and phrases.
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learning a wider range of poetry by heart
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Work in pairs to locate ideas that summarise a text, drawn from several
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preparing poems and plays to read aloud and to perform, showing
understanding through intonation, tone and volume so that the
paragraphs. Identify key details that support the main idea.
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meaning is clear to an audience
understand what they read by:
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children to fully engage with the text.
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checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their
understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context
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asking questions to improve their understanding
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drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts
During written comprehension activities, allow adequate time for
Use read-aloud programme, shared and guided reading to consider
authorial purpose and effect.
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Identify figurative language such as alliteration, simile and metaphor in
poetry and fiction.
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Use a newspaper report to distinguish between fact and opinion
(practitioner to model this first).
and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with
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evidence
Engage in group discussion (book talk) around the class book and the
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predicting what might happen from details stated and implied
pupils’ own reading to build their own ideas, clarify their thinking and to
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summarising the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph,
justify their views.
identifying key details that support the main ideas
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identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to
meaning
could be arranged and organised.
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discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative
language, considering the impact on the reader
Engage the children in discussion about how the class or school libraries
Ask children to suggest a favourite author of the week, selecting texts
and reviews for display.
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Organise the reading area into books around chosen themes, using
attractive ways to display different genres, or books by different
distinguish between statements of fact and opinion
authors.
retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction
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participate in discussions about books that are read to them and those they
Outside the classroom, display the class text: ‘In …class, we are
reading….’
can read for themselves, building on their own and others’ ideas and
challenging views courteously
explain and discuss their understanding of what they have read, including
through formal presentations and debates, maintaining a focus on the topic
and using notes where necessary
provide reasoned justifications for their views.
Spelling
Expected
Spelling pattern, rule or tip
Word suggestions
Revise spellings from previous years. Assess
children against the POS for Years 3&4 in order to
ascertain starting points.
Statutory:
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Words ending with –cious or –tious
If the root ends in
–ce, then the –cious ending is common, e.g.
grace – gracious
vicious, precious, conscious, delicious, malicious,
suspicious, ambitious cautious, fictitious,
infectious, nutritious
Exception: anxious
-cial is common after a vowel, and –tial after a
consonant, but there are some exceptions.
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partial, confidential, essential
Words ending with –cial and –tial
Exceptions: initial, financial, commercial,
provincial
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official, special, artificial
Words ending with –ant,
-ance, -ancy, -ent, -ence, -ency
Use –ant, -ance and –ancy if there is a related
word with the long a phoneme (see words in
column right).
initial, commercial, provincial
observant, observance, (observation)
expectant (expectation)
hesitant, hesitancy (hesitation)
tolerant, tolerance (toleration)
substance (substantial)
Use –ent, -ence and –ency after a soft c, soft g or
qu
Exceptions: there are many words, however,
innocent, innocence, decent, decency, frequent,
frequency, confident, confidence
where the above guidelines don’t help. These
words just have to be learnt. Pronouncing the
words artificially, in the way they are spelt, can
help children to remember.
assistant, assistance, obedient, obedience,
independent, independence
co-ordinate, re-enter, co-operate, co-own
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Use of the hyphen
Hyphens can be used to join a prefix to a root,
especially if the prefix ends in a vowel and the root
also begins with one e.g. co-ordinate.
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Words with the long e (ee) phoneme, spelt
ei after c
Common rule: ‘i before e, except after c’, where
the sound is spelt by ei.
deceive, conceive, receive, perceive, ceiling
However, there are Exceptions:
protein, caffeine, seize, neither
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Words containing ough
One of the trickiest spellings.
ought, bought, thought
Can be used to spell a number of sounds.
rough, tough, enough
cough
though, although, dough
through
thorough, borough
plough
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Words with letters which are not sounded
Some ‘silent’ letters used to be sounded many
years ago, e.g. knight
doubt, island, lamb, solemn, thistle, knight
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Further homophones or near-homophones
In these pairs of words, nouns end -ce and
verbs end -se e.g. advice (noun) but advise
(verb)
advice/advise,
device/devise practice/practise,
aloud/allowed
farther/further/father, guessed/guest, heard/herd,
led/lead, past/passed
cereal/serial
steal/steel
who’s/whose
who’s is a contraction of who is or who has;
whose means belonging to someone
Spoken Language
Pupils should be taught to:
•listen and respond appropriately and selectively to adults and their peers
•ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge
•use relevant strategies to build a vocabulary of increasing breadth and depth
•articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions with increasing confidence
•give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes; express feelings appropriately
•maintain attention, being able to participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic; initiate and respond to the comments of others; raise questions in a
group
•use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
•speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English
•participate in discussions, presentations and performances; further develop skills in role play and improvisation; participate in debates
•gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener/s
•consider and evaluate different viewpoints; attend to and build on the contributions of others
•be more confident to select and use appropriate registers for effective communication
Writing Composition
Knowledge, skills and understanding
Supporting composition: routines and resources
Pupils should be taught to:
plan their writing by:
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identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the
appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their
own.
noting and developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research
where necessary
in writing narratives, considering how authors have developed
characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen
performed.
Draft and write by:
 selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how
such choices can change and enhance meaning
 building cohesion within a paragraph [e.g. then, after that, this, firstly]
 linking ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time e.g. later, of
place e.g. nearby, or number e.g. secondly, or by tense choice e.g. he
had seen her before.
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in narratives, describing settings, characters and atmosphere and
integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action
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précising longer passages
using further organisational and presentational devices to structure text
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Use a class short story to identify key events and place these in sequential order;
draw a plan; insert key information in each section.
During shared writing or as a sentence–starter activity, play with sentence order,
exploring how changes affect the reader.
Use shared reading as a regular routine, to observe and discuss use of
connectives which promote fluency.
Build dictionary skills to check the meaning of new words; become familiar with
using a thesaurus to expand vocabulary; keep a journal of words.
Visit theatre productions to broaden experience, language structures and
vocabulary, and to enrich knowledge and understanding of play scripts.
During shared reading, discuss how the author uses both dialogue and actions to
depict character.
Model how to improve skills in organisation of logical paragraphs. Identify
similar information when sharing texts.
Use connectives more effectively to link sentences and paragraphs, to improve
fluency of writing and cohesion of the whole piece.
Link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials [e.g. later, nearby, secondly].
Model boxing-up activity as a regular routine; show how to organise similar
information into each section or paragraph; allow pupils to practise this boxingup activity themselves.
Identify/highlight/textmark the main clause and subordinate clause of a
and to guide the reader [for example, headings, bullet points, underlining]
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Evaluate and edit by:
assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing
proposing changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance
effects and clarify meaning
ensuring the consistent and correct use of tense throughout a piece of
writing
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ensuring correct subject and verb agreement when using singular and
plural, distinguishing between the language of speech and writing and
choosing the appropriate register.
Proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
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Develop their understanding of the concepts set out in English Appendix 2 by:
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recognising vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal
speech and writing
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 using expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely
 using the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
 using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that
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 using modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility [e.g. might;
should; will; must or perhaps; surely].
Indicate grammatical and other features by:
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using commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity
using brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis [embedded 
clause]
using a dash to mark boundaries between independent clauses [as a 
separator]
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Identify the subject and object within a sentence.
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sentence.
Which is it? game – use a bag or box containing a mixture of statements,
questions and commands. Child picks out a card and reads to whole class.
Everyone must respond with their choice.
Human sentences. Give out word cards (can include punctuation cards). Pupils
arrange themselves into a sentence which makes sense.
Word class game. Use P.E hoops (or large paper) to create a Venn Diagram of
three circles with intersections. Each hoop relates to either noun/verb or
adjective. Group of children discuss where to place given word cards.
Collect words to describe a given setting; use a picture or film as a stimulus.
Find vocabulary to evoke atmosphere of a setting.
Use a dictionary and thesaurus with confidence to define new words and to
support the collection of a wide variety of words to support writing.
Plan activities involving note-taking; summarising; writing a précis; write a book
blurb; write a newspaper article for a school newspaper.
Keep journals for first drafting.
Link with cross-curricular topic work to practise research skills, referencing text
books.
Regularly engage pupils in discussion of their writing and that of their peers,
through feedback activities; guided writing and shared writing.
Model the process of providing constructive feedback, so that pupils learn to do
this effectively for themselves.
Model how to improve work; how to maintain tense; how to make better
vocabulary choices.
Introduce the idea of the future tense; will be going, shall dine.
Reiterate the importance of subject/verb agreement; I am, you are, we were; I
did, you did, they did; I was, you were, he was, they were.
 Role-play use of Standard English forms in a formal situation. Develop to use
during writing, for example, a formal letter with an audience and purpose.
Model the proof-reading process during shared and guided writing.
 Know the term Standard English and what it means.
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Use a dictionary and thesaurus to define words and to collect a variety of words
to support writing.
Identify and model effective noun phrases, avoiding overuse of adjectives. ‘Every
adjective must earn its place.’ (Pie Corbett)
On mini-whiteboards, practise writing sentences using relative clauses beginning
with who, which, where, when, whose and that.
Use the term parenthesis for an embedded clause of extra information; become
familiar with ways to punctuate this using commas, brackets or dashes.
Play ‘Drop in’, providing a simple sentence, and inviting pupils to ‘drop in’ an
embedded clause, or simply a word. Model this first to all children. Play this as
part of ‘Super sentences’, modelling a wide range of ways to adapt and improve
sentences. Show that embedded clauses can be punctuated in a variety of ways.
Display a range of connectives.
Game: Which connective is it? Provide a beginning and ending of a sentence
(use class text) omitting the connective. Pupils select something suitable
(whiteboards/ cards/ in pairs).
Use punctuation accurately in complex sentences; use a comma to clarify
meaning.
Regularly investigate main clauses and subordinate clauses within sentences.
Confidently identify sentences which are statements, questions or commands.
Develop confidence to identify a preposition within a sentence.
Develop confidence to identify reported speech (indirect) and direct speech;
e.g. James said that he didn’t want to join in; James said, “I don’t want to join
in.”
During shared and guided reading, regularly identify the subject and object.