Year 5 & 6

Reading – word reading

Pupils should be taught to:

• apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (morphology and etymology), as listed in English appendix 1, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words that they meet

Reading – comprehension

Pupils should be taught to:

• maintain positive attitudes to reading and an understanding of what they read by:
  • continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks
  • reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes
  • 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
  • recommending books that they have read to their peers, giving reasons for their choices
  • identifying and discussing themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing
  • making comparisons within and across books
  • learning a wider range of poetry by heart
  • preparing poems and plays to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone and volume so that the meaning is clear to an audience
• understand what they read by:
  • checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context
  • asking questions to improve their understanding
  • drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence
  • predicting what might happen from details stated and implied
  • summarising the main ideas drawn from more than 1 paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas
  • identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
• discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader
• distinguish between statements of fact and opinion
• retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction
• participate in discussions about books that are read to them and those they 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

Writing – transcription

Spelling – see English appendix 1

Pupils should be taught to:

• use further prefixes and suffixes and understand the guidance for adding them
• spell some words with ‘silent’ letters [for example, knight, psalm, solemn]
• continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused
• use knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically, as listed in English appendix 1
• use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words
• use the first 3 or 4 letters of a word to check spelling, meaning or both of these in a dictionary
• use a thesaurus

Handwriting and presentation

Pupils should be taught to:

• write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by:
  • choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters
  • choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task

Writing – composition

Pupils should be taught to:

• plan their 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 organisational and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader [for example, 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
• proofread for spelling and punctuation errors
• perform their own compositions, using appropriate intonation, volume, and movement so that meaning is clear

Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

Pupils should be taught to:

• develop their understanding of the concepts set out in English appendix 2 by:
  • recognising vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal speech and writing, including subjunctive forms
  • using passive verbs to affect the presentation of information in a sentence
  • using the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
  • using expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely
  • using modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
  • using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that or with an implied (ie omitted) relative pronoun
  • learning the grammar for years 5 and 6 in English appendix 2
• indicate grammatical and other features by:
  • using commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity in writing
  • using hyphens to avoid ambiguity
  • using brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis
  • using semicolons, colons or dashes to mark boundaries between independent clauses
  • using a colon to introduce a list
  • punctuating bullet points consistently
• use and understand the grammatical terminology in English appendix 2 accurately and appropriately in discussing their writing and reading

• Statutory requirements		Rules and guidance (non‑statutory)	Example words (non‑statutory)
  Endings which sound like /ʃəs/ spelt –cious or –tious		Not many common words end like this. If the root word ends in –ce, the /ʃ/ sound is usually spelt as c – e.g. vice – vicious,grace – gracious, space – spacious, malice – malicious. Exception: anxious.	vicious, precious, conscious, delicious, malicious, suspicious ambitious, cautious, fictitious, infectious, nutritious
  Endings which sound like /ʃəl/		–cial is common after a vowel letter and –tial after a consonant letter, but there are some exceptions. Exceptions: initial, financial, commercial, provincial (the spelling of the last three is clearly related to finance, commerce andprovince).	official, special, artificial, partial, confidential, essential
  Words ending in –ant, –ance/–ancy, –ent, –ence/–ency		Use –ant and –ance/–ancy if there is a related word with a /æ/ or /eɪ/ sound in the right position; –ation endings are often a clue.   Use –ent and –ence/–ency after soft c (/s/ sound), soft g (/dʒ/ sound) and qu, or if there is a related word with a clear /ɛ/ sound in the right position. There are many words, however, where the above guidance does not help. These words just have to be learnt.	observant, observance, (observation), expectant (expectation), hesitant, hesitancy (hesitation), tolerant, tolerance (toleration), substance (substantial) innocent, innocence, decent, decency, frequent, frequency, confident, confidence (confidential) assistant, assistance, obedient, obedience, independent, independence

   

  Statutory requirements		Rules and guidance (non‑statutory)	Example words (non‑statutory)
  Words ending in –able and –ible Words ending in –ably and –ibly		The –able/–ably endings are far more common than the –ible/–ibly endings. As with –ant and –ance/–ancy, the –ableending is used if there is a related word ending in –ation.   If the –able ending is added to a word ending in –ce or –ge, the e after the c or gmust be kept as those letters would otherwise have their ‘hard’ sounds (as incap and gap) before the a of the –ableending. The –able ending is usually but not always used if a complete root word can be heard before it, even if there is no related word ending in –ation. The first five examples opposite are obvious; in reliable, the complete word rely is heard, but the ychanges to i in accordance with the rule. The –ible ending is common if a complete root word can’t be heard before it but it also sometimes occurs when a complete word can be heard (e.g. sensible).	adorable/adorably (adoration), applicable/applicably (application), considerable/considerably (consideration), tolerable/tolerably (toleration) changeable, noticeable, forcible, legible   dependable, comfortable, understandable, reasonable, enjoyable, reliable   possible/possibly, horrible/horribly, terrible/terribly, visible/visibly, incredible/incredibly, sensible/sensibly
  Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in –fer		The r is doubled if the –fer is still stressed when the ending is added.   The r is not doubled if the –fer is no longer stressed.	referring, referred, referral, preferring, preferred, transferring, transferred reference, referee, preference, transference
  Use of the hyphen		Hyphens can be used to join a prefix to a root word, especially if the prefix ends in a vowel letter and the root word also begins with one.	co-ordinate, re-enter, co-operate, co-own

   

  Statutory requirements		Rules and guidance (non‑statutory)	Example words (non‑statutory)
  Words with the /i:/ sound spelt ei after c		The ‘i before e except after c’ rule applies to words where the sound spelt by ei is /i:/. Exceptions: protein, caffeine, seize (andeither and neither if pronounced with an initial /i:/ sound).	deceive, conceive, receive, perceive, ceiling
  Words containing the letter-string ough		ough is one of the trickiest spellings in English – it can be used to spell a number of different sounds.	ought, bought, thought, nought, brought, fought rough, tough, enough cough though, although, dough through thorough, borough plough, bough
  Words with ‘silent’ letters (i.e. letters whose presence cannot be predicted from the pronunciation of the word)		Some letters which are no longer sounded used to be sounded hundreds of years ago: e.g. in knight, there was a /k/ sound before the /n/, and the gh used to represent the sound that ‘ch’ now represents in the Scottish word loch.	doubt, island, lamb, solemn, thistle, knight

   

  Statutory requirements		Rules and guidance (non‑statutory)	Example words (non‑statutory)
  Homophones and other words that are often confused		In the pairs of words opposite, nouns end–ce and verbs end –se. Advice and adviseprovide a useful clue as the word advise(verb) is pronounced with a /z/ sound – which could not be spelt c.   More examples: aisle: a gangway between seats (in a church, train, plane). isle: an island. aloud: out loud. allowed: permitted. affect: usually a verb (e.g. The weather may affect our plans). effect: usually a noun (e.g. It may have an effect on our plans). If a verb, it means ‘bring about’ (e.g. He will effect changes in the running of the business). altar: a table-like piece of furniture in a church. alter: to change. ascent: the act of ascending (going up). assent: to agree/agreement (verb and noun). bridal: to do with a bride at a wedding. bridle: reins etc. for controlling a horse. cereal: made from grain (e.g. breakfast cereal). serial: adjective from the noun series – a succession of things one after the other. compliment: to make nice remarks about someone (verb) or the remark that is made (noun). complement: related to the wordcomplete – to make something complete or more complete (e.g. her scarf complemented her outfit).	advice/advise device/devise licence/license practice/practise prophecy/prophesy   farther: further father: a male parent guessed: past tense of the verbguess guest: visitor heard: past tense of the verbhear herd: a group of animals led: past tense of the verb lead lead: present tense of that verb, or else the metal which is very heavy (as heavy as lead) morning: before noon mourning: grieving for someone who has died past: noun or adjective referring to a previous time (e.g. In the past) or preposition or adverb showing place (e.g. he walked past me) passed: past tense of the verb ‘pass’ (e.g. I passed him in the road) precede: go in front of or before proceed: go on

   

  Statutory requirements		Rules and guidance (non‑statutory)	Example words (non‑statutory)
  Homophones and other words that are often confused (continued)		descent: the act of descending (going down). dissent: to disagree/disagreement (verb and noun). desert: as a noun – a barren place (stress on first syllable); as a verb – to abandon (stress on second syllable) dessert: (stress on second syllable) a sweet course after the main course of a meal. draft: noun – a first attempt at writing something; verb – to make the first attempt; also, to draw in someone (e.g. to draft in extra help) draught: a current of air.	principal: adjective – most important (e.g. principal ballerina) noun – important person (e.g. principal of a college) principle: basic truth or belief profit: money that is made in selling things prophet: someone who foretells the future stationary: not moving stationery: paper, envelopes etc. steal: take something that does not belong to you steel: metal wary: cautious weary: tired who’s: contraction of who is orwho has whose: belonging to someone (e.g. Whose jacket is that?)

The two documents below give details of the specific grammar knowledge required in each year group.

Year 5 Grammar

Year 6 Grammar

The links below outline our written calculations policy:

Calculation-policy

Autumn 1 and 2

Design and Technology: Christmas decoration

Science: Evolution and inheritance

French: quelle est la date

RE: The Christmas Story

Computing: Video production

History: ww1 knowledge organiser

Spring