Sophie Smith
Ravenshead C of E Primary School
Ravenshead C of E Primary School
Grammar Policy 2015-2016
School Mission Statement:
Reflecting Christian Values expressed in all aspects of the school's life
displaying acceptance and mutual respect.
Caring and Nurturing with children and adults having high expectations,
celebrating success and making their contribution to a safe, fun, positive and
stimulating environment.
Exceptional Children who are encouraged to make exceptional progress in
academic, creative, moral, social and spiritual development and to become
lifelong learners.
Partnerships with strong relationships between children, families, staff,
governors, the church and the community as a whole.
There are four main purposes to this policy:
1. To establish an entitlement for all pupils in terms of the teaching of
Grammar and Punctuation.
2. To establish expectations for teachers of Grammar and Punctuation.
3. To promote coherence and continuity across the school.
4. To state the school’s approaches to promote understanding of
Grammar and Punctuation across all stakeholders, especially parents
and carers.
Introduction:
The importance of Grammar and Punctuation:
Grammar is concerned with the way in which sentences are used in spoken
language, reading and writing. Sentences are the construct that give words
sense. The purpose of grammar teaching is to enable pupils to become conscious
of patterns of language which they can apply in their own work to enhance
meaning.
Sophie Smith
Ravenshead C of E Primary School
The purpose of punctuation is to clarify the meaning of texts. Readers use
punctuation to help make sense of written texts while writers use punctuation
to help communicate intended meaning to the reader.
Definitions and Abbreviations of Terms:
Staff across school have agreed definitions of word types and abbreviations to
be used if appropriate. These agreed definitions are to be displayed in
classrooms for everyday reference. (See appendix for definitions and
abbreviations of terms.)
The Role of the Teacher:
• To provide direct teaching and accurate modelling
• To provide resources and an environment; which promotes a developing
understanding of grammar and punctuation
• To observe pupils, monitor progress and determine targets for development
Approaches to teaching Grammar and Punctuation ensuring continuity and
progression
Foundation Stage
Written texts begin to make sense and they recognise sentences in their shared
reading of texts and in their own play and experimental writing. They are
beginning to write simple sentences based on speech and start to experiment
using basic punctuation .e.g. capital letters for their own name or at the
beginning of sentences.
KS1
Emphasis placed on developing children’s awareness of language through
speaking and listening and writing. Pupils are encouraged to attempt more
complex spoken language and to observe the use of punctuation in written texts
as a pointer for pausing, intonation and as an aid to meaning. They recognise
sentences and begin to use basic sentence structure in their own writing. They
are beginning to use some punctuation marks in context and experimenting with
more complex sentences through the use of connectives. The children are
exposed to a range of grammatical terminology and encouraged to try and use
some.
New Curriculum Specific Objectives (from 2014)
YEAR 1
Pupils should be taught to:
1. understand how spoken language can be represented in writing by: a. leaving spaces
between words b. using the word and to join words and join sentences c. beginning to
Sophie Smith
Ravenshead C of E Primary School
punctuate sentences using a capital letter and a full stop, question mark or exclamation
mark d. using a capital letter for names of people, places, the days of the week, and the
personal pronoun I [42]
2. use the grammatical terminology in Appendix 2 in discussing their writing. [43]
YEAR 2
Pupils should be taught to:
1. understand how spoken language can be represented in writing by: a. learning how to use
both familiar and new punctuation correctly (see Appendix 2), including full stops, capital
letters, exclamation marks, question marks, commas for lists and apostrophes for
contracted forms
2. . learning how to use: a. sentences with different forms: statement, question,
exclamation, command, b. expanded noun phrases to describe and specify, e.g. the blue
butterfly
when, if, that, or because) and co-ordination (using or,
and, or but)
3. Using some features of written Standard English [84]
4. Use and understand the grammatical terminology in Appendix 2 in discussing their
writing.
KS2
Lower KS2 pupils are introduced to the grammatical functions of different
types of word and they begin to explore how sentences are constructed. The
emphasis is on discovering what words can be made to do. Explicit teaching of a
wider range of punctuation marks occurs and this is reflected by their use in
pupils’ writing. However, care should be taken that punctuation is taught within
the context of what is being read and what the pupils need to use in their own
writing.
In upper KS2 this basic knowledge is extended through the close reading and
discussion of carefully chosen examples from a range of text-types. In their
writing pupils are encouraged to draw on this understanding to develop a sense
of style, to experiment with the construction of complex sentences and to
restructure sentences for clarity and effect. This will necessitate the use of a
wider range of punctuation marks, including punctuation within a sentence.
New Curriculum Specific Objectives (from 2014)
YEAR 3 & 4
Pupils should be taught to:
1. Develop their understanding of how spoken language differs from and can be
represented in writing by: a. extending the range of sentences with more than one clause
by using a wider range of connectives e.g. when, if, because, although b. choosing nouns
or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion c. choosing nouns or pronouns
appropriately within a sentence to avoid ambiguity and repetition d. using conjunctions,
Sophie Smith
Ravenshead C of E Primary School
adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause e. using fronted adverbials f.
discussing dialogue in narratives or characters’ language in drama [118]
2. Indicate grammatical and other features by: a. using commas after fronted adverbials b.
indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with singular and plural nouns c.
using and punctuating direct speech
3. Use and understand the grammatical terminology in Appendix 2 accurately and
appropriately when discussing their writing and reading.
YEAR 5 & 6
Pupils should be taught to:
1. understand how spoken language can be represented in writing by: a. recognising
vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal speech and writing, including
the subjunctive b. using the passive voice to affect the presentation of information in a
sentence c. using expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely d.
using modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility e. using relative clauses
beginning with who, which, where, why or whose [152]
2. Indicate grammatical and other features by: a. using commas to clarify meaning or avoid
ambiguity in writing b. using hyphens to avoid ambiguity c. using brackets, dashes or
commas to indicate parenthesis d. using semi-colons, colons or dashes to indicate a
stronger sub-division of a sentence than a comma e. punctuating bullet points
consistently [153]
3. Use and understand the grammatical terminology in Appendix 2 accurately and
appropriately in discussing their writing and reading.
Whole School Approach
1. Staff will:
* highlight the grammar objectives on their weekly English plan
* use the long term English plan to identify the text types and grammar
coverage
* display the grammatical terms and punctuation in their classrooms
Grammar should be integrated, wherever possible, into English sessions so that
children can see the impact and importance of grammar and punctuation e.g.
teaching of contractions linked to informal letter writing.
CPD Requirements and Planned actions:
 English co-ordinator to gauge from staff what training requirements are
needed with approaches to teaching grammar and punctuation.
 Resources and activity ideas shared on the T Drive in the English Folder,
Grammar.
Sophie Smith


Ravenshead C of E Primary School
Teacher guides and resources purchased for year groups to use to
supplement teaching within lessons.
Tripod observations will provide opportunity for teachers to observe a
variety of grammatical teaching techniques and have the opportunity to
discuss, share and trial new ideas.
Assessment and Recording
 Rising stars grammar assessments to be completed at the end of each
half term
 Assessment of grammar and punctuation is mainly undertaken using
conferencing and marking strategies set within the daily teaching and
marking routines.
 Opportunities for children to ‘respond to marking’ will be put in the
timetable, so that children are eradicating misconceptions, working on
areas of weakness or challenging themselves further
 Activities will be planned as a result of marking- where often pupils’
misconceptions and misuse of grammar or punctuation will be addressed
as they arise.
 Individual or group targets will be set and reviewed where appropriate.
 Teachers give explicit feedback regarding the successful strategies used
and knowledge employed.