Composition

EYFS

By the end of EYFS children will be able to:

• Retell a simple past event in the correct order.
• Use talk to connect ideas, explain what is happening and anticipate what might happen next, recall and live past experiences.
• Use talk in pretending that objects stand for something else in play e.g. ‘this box is my castle’.
• Engage in imaginative role play based on own first-hand experiences.
• Build stories around toys e.g. farm animals needing rescue from an armchair ‘cliff’.
• Capture experiences and responses with a range of media, such as music, dance and paint and other materials or words.
• Link statements and stick to a main theme or intention.
• Use talk to organise, sequence and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events.
• Introduce a storyline or narrative into their play.
• Write their own name and other things such as labels and captions.
• Attempt to write short sentences in meaningful contexts.
• Play cooperatively as part of a group to develop and act out a narrative.
• Develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.
• Write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others.
• Spell some words  correctly whilst others are phonetically plausible.
• Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences in play situations.
• Express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs.

Year 1

By the end of Year 1 children will be able to:

• Write sentences by:
  • Saying out loud what they are going to write about.
  • Composing a sentence orally before writing it.
  • Sequencing sentences to form short narratives.
• Re-reading what have written to check that it makes sense.

• Discuss what they have written with the teacher or other pupils.
• Read aloud their writing clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher.

Year 2

By the end of Year 2 children will be able to:

• Demonstrate positive attitudes towards and stamina for writing by:
  • Writing narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional)
  • Writing about real events.
  • Writing poetry.
  • Writing for different purposes.
• Consider what will be written beforehand beginning by:
  • Planning or saying out loud what they will write about.
  • 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 writing (editing) by:
  • Evaluating their writing with 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.
  • Proof-reading to check for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation e.g. ends of sentences punctuated correctly.
• Read aloud what they have written with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear.

Year 3

By the end of Year 3 children will be able to:

Skills in LKS2 will be introduced in Year 3 and revisited in Year 4 to provide children with the opportunity to master the skills taught before transitioning to UKS2.

• Plan writing by:
  • Discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar.
  • Discussing and recording ideas.
• Draft and write by:
  • Composing and rehearsing sentences orally, progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures as detailed in the National Curriculum English Appendix 2.
  • Organising paragraphs around a theme.
  • In narratives, creating settings, characters and plot.
  • In non-narrative material, using simple organizational devices e.g. headings and sub-headings.
• Evaluate and edit by:
  • Assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements.
  • Proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences.
• Proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors.
• Read aloud their own writing to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.

Year 4

By the end of Year 4 children will be able to:

In Year 4 children will revisit the skills introduced in Year 3 to build confidence, independence and mastery.

• Plan writing by:
  • Discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar.
  • Discussing and recording ideas.
• To be able to draft and write by:
  • Composing and rehearsing sentences orally, progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures as detailed in the National Curriculum English Appendix 2.
  • Organising paragraphs around a theme.
  • In narratives, creating settings, characters and plot.
  • In non-narrative material, using simple organizational devices e.g. headings and sub-headings.
• Evaluate and edit by:
  • Assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements.
  • Proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences.
• Proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors.

• Read aloud their own writing to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.

Year 5

By the end of Year 5 children will be able to:

Skills in UKS2 will be introduced in Year 5 and revisited in Year 6 to provide children with the opportunity to master the skills taught before transitioning to UKS2.

•  Plan writing by:
  • 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.
  • In narratives, describing settings, characters and atmosphere and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action.
  • Précising longer passages.
  • Using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs.
  • Using further organization and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader e.g. headings, bullet points, underlining.
• 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.
  • 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.
• Perform their own compositions, using appropriate intonation, volume and movement so that meaning is clear.

Year 6

By the end of Year 6 children will be able to:

In Year 6 children will revisit the skills introduced in Year 5 to build confidence, independence and mastery to ensure they are fully prepared for transition to secondary school.

• Plan writing by:
  • 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.
  • In narratives, describing settings, characters and atmosphere and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action.
  • Précising longer passages.
  • Using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs.
  • Using further organization and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader e.g. headings, bullet points, underlining.
• 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.
  • 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.
• Perform their own compositions, using appropriate intonation, volume and movement so that meaning is clear.