Statutory Expectations: Writing 1

EYFS

• To use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways that match their spoken sounds.
• To write some irregular common words.
• To develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.
• To write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.
• To express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs.
• To answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events.
• To use past, present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are going to happen in the future.

KS1

By the end of Key stage 1 all pupils should be able to:

• Write simple, coherent narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real or fictional)
• Write about real events, recording these simply and clearly
• Demarcate most sentences in their writing with capital letters and full stops, and use question marks correctly when required
• Use present and past tense mostly correctly and consistently
• Use co-ordination (e.g. or / and / but) and some subordination (e.g. when / if / that / because) to join clauses
• Segment spoken words into phonemes and represent these by graphemes, spelling many of these words correctly and making phonically-plausible attempts at others
• Spell many common exception words
• Form 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

KS2

By the end of Key Stage 2 all pupils should be able to:

• Write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting language that shows good awareness of the reader (e.g. the use of the first person in a diary; direct address in instructions and persuasive writing)
• In narratives, describe settings, characters and atmosphere
• Integrate dialogue in narratives to convey character and advance the action
• Select vocabulary and grammatical structures that reflect what the writing requires, doing this mostly appropriately (e.g. using contracted forms in dialogues in narrative; using passive verbs to affect how information is presented; using modal verbs to suggest degrees of possibility)
• Use a range of devices to build cohesion (e.g. conjunctions, adverbials of time and place, pronouns, synonyms) within and across paragraphs
• Use verb tenses consistently and correctly throughout their writing
• Use the range of punctuation taught at key stage 2 mostly correctly (e.g. inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech)
• Spell correctly most words from the year 5 / year 6 spelling list, and use a dictionary to check the spelling of uncommon or more ambitious vocabulary
• Maintain legibility in joined handwriting when writing at speed.