English - Upper key stage 2 – years 5 and 6
By the beginning of year 5, pupils should be able to read aloud a wider range of poetry and books written at an age-appropriate interest level with accuracy and at a reasonable speaking pace. They should be able to read most words effortlessly and to work out how to pronounce unfamiliar written words with increasing automaticity. If the pronunciation sounds unfamiliar, they should ask for help in determining both the meaning of the word and how to pronounce it correctly.
They should be able to prepare readings, with appropriate intonation to show their understanding, and should be able to summarise and present a familiar story in their own words. They should be reading widely and frequently, outside as well as in school, for pleasure and information. They should be able to read silently, with good understanding, inferring the meanings of unfamiliar words, and then discuss what they have read.
Pupils should be able to write down their ideas quickly. Their grammar and punctuation should be broadly accurate. Pupils’ spelling of most words taught so far should be accurate and they should be able to spell words that they have not yet been taught by using what they have learnt about how spelling works in English.
During years 5 and 6, teachers should continue to emphasise pupils’ enjoyment and understanding of language, especially vocabulary, to support their reading and writing. Pupils’ knowledge of language, gained from stories, plays, poetry, non-fiction and textbooks, will support their increasing fluency as readers, their facility as writers, and their comprehension. As in years 3 and 4, pupils should be taught to enhance the effectiveness of their writing as well as their competence.
It is essential that pupils whose decoding skills are poor are taught through a rigorous and systematic phonics programme so that they catch up rapidly with their peers in terms of their decoding and spelling. However, as far as possible, these pupils should follow the upper key stage 2 programme of study in terms of listening to books and other writing that they have not come across before, hearing and learning new vocabulary and grammatical structures, and having a chance to talk about all of these.
By the end of year 6, pupils’ reading and writing should be sufficiently fluent and effortless for them to manage the general demands of the curriculum in year 7, across all subjects and not just in English, but there will continue to be a need for pupils to learn subject-specific vocabulary. They should be able to reflect their understanding of the audience for and purpose of their writing by selecting appropriate vocabulary and grammar. Teachers should prepare pupils for secondary education by ensuring that they can consciously control sentence structure in their writing and understand why sentences are constructed as they are. Pupils should understand nuances in vocabulary choice and age-appropriate, academic vocabulary. This involves consolidation, practice and discussion of language.
Specific requirements for pupils to discuss what they are learning and to develop their wider skills in spoken language form part of this programme of study. In years 5 and 6, pupils’ confidence, enjoyment and mastery of language should be extended through public speaking, performance and debate.
Years 5 and 6 programme of study
Reading – word reading
Statutory requirements
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.
Notes and guidance (non-statutory)
At this stage, there should be no need for further direct teaching of word reading skills for almost all pupils. If pupils are struggling or failing in this, the reasons for this should be investigated. It is imperative that pupils are taught to read during their last two years at primary school if they enter year 5 not being able to do so. Pupils should be encouraged to work out any unfamiliar word. They should focus on all the letters in a word so that they do not, for example, read ‘invitation’ for ‘imitation’ simply because they might be more familiar with the first word. Accurate reading of individual words, which might be key to the meaning of a sentence or paragraph, improves comprehension. When teachers are reading with or to pupils, attention should be paid to new vocabulary – both a word’s meaning(s) and its correct pronunciation.
Reading – comprehension
Statutory requirements
Pupils should be taught to: maintain positive attitudes to reading and 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 one 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.
Notes and guidance (non-statutory)
Even though pupils can now read independently, reading aloud to them should include whole books so that they meet books and authors that they might not choose to read themselves. The knowledge and skills that pupils need in order to comprehend are very similar at different ages. Pupils should continue to apply what they have already learnt to more complex writing. Pupils should be taught to recognise themes in what they read, such as loss or heroism. They should have opportunities to compare characters, consider different accounts of the same event and discuss viewpoints (both of authors and of fictional characters), within a text and across more than one text. They should continue to learn the conventions of different types of writing, such as the use of the first person in writing diaries and autobiographies. Pupils should be taught the technical and other terms needed for discussing what they hear and read, such as metaphor, simile, analogy, imagery, style and effect. In using reference books, pupils need to know what information they need to look for before they begin and need to understand the task. They should be shown how to use contents pages and indexes to locate information. The skills of information retrieval that are taught should be applied, for example, in reading history, geography and science textbooks, and in contexts where pupils are genuinely motivated to find out information, for example, reading information leaflets before a gallery or museum visit or reading a theatre programme or review. Teachers should consider making use of any library services and expertise to support this. Pupils should have guidance about and feedback on the quality of their explanations and contributions to discussions. Pupils should be shown how to compare characters, settings, themes and other aspects of what they read.
Writing – transcription
Statutory requirements
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 three or four letters of a word to check spelling, meaning or both of these in a dictionary use a thesaurus.
Notes and guidance (non-statutory)
As in earlier years, pupils should continue to be taught to understand and apply the concepts of word structure so that they can draw on their knowledge of morphology and etymology to spell correctly.
Statutory requirements
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.
Notes and guidance (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. They should be clear about what standard of handwriting is appropriate for a particular task, for example, quick notes or a final handwritten version. 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.
Writing – composition
Statutory requirements
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 proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors perform their own compositions, using appropriate intonation, volume, and movement so that meaning is clear.
Notes and guidance (non-statutory)
Pupils should understand, through being shown, the skills and processes essential for writing: that is, thinking aloud to generate ideas, drafting, and re-reading to check that the meaning is clear.
Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Statutory requirements
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 (i.e. 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 semi-colons, 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.
Notes and guidance (non-statutory)
Pupils should continue to add to their knowledge of linguistic terms, including those to describe grammar, so that they can discuss their writing and reading.
English Appendix 1: Spelling
Most people read words more accurately than they spell them. The younger pupils are, the truer this is.
By the end of year 1, pupils should be able to read a large number of different words containing the GPCs that they have learnt, whether or not they have seen these words before. Spelling, however, is a very different matter. Once pupils have learnt more than one way of spelling particular sounds, choosing the right letter or letters depends on their either having made a conscious effort to learn the words or having absorbed them less consciously through their reading. Younger pupils have not had enough time to learn or absorb the accurate spelling of all the words that they may want to write.
This appendix provides examples of words embodying each pattern which is taught. Many of the words listed as ‘example words’ for years 1 and 2, including almost all those listed as ‘exception words’, are used frequently in pupils’ writing, and therefore it is worth pupils learning the correct spelling. The ‘exception words’ contain GPCs which have not yet been taught as widely applicable, but this may be because they are applicable in very few age-appropriate words rather than because they are rare in English words in general.
The word-lists for years 3 and 4 and years 5 and 6 are statutory. The lists are a mixture of words pupils frequently use in their writing and those which they often misspell. Some of the listed words may be thought of as quite challenging, but the 100 words in each list can easily be taught within the four years of key stage 2 alongside other words that teachers consider appropriate.
The rules and guidance are intended to support the teaching of spelling. Phonic knowledge should continue to underpin spelling after key stage 1; teachers should still draw pupils’ attention to GPCs that do and do not fit in with what has been taught so far. Increasingly, however, pupils also need to understand the role of morphology and etymology. Although particular GPCs in root words simply have to be learnt, teachers can help pupils to understand relationships between meaning and spelling where these are relevant. For example, understanding the relationship between medical and medicine may help pupils to spell the /s/ sound in medicine with the letter ‘c’. Pupils can also be helped to spell words with prefixes and suffixes correctly if they understand some general principles for adding them. Teachers should be familiar with what pupils have been taught about spelling in earlier years, such as which rules pupils have been taught for adding prefixes and suffixes.
In this spelling appendix, the left-hand column is statutory; the middle and right-hand columns are non-statutory guidance.
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is used to represent sounds (phonemes). A table showing the IPA is provided in this document.
Spelling – years 5 and 6
Revise work done in previous years
New work for years 5 and 6
| 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 and province). | 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 |
| 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 –able ending 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 g must be kept as those letters would otherwise have their ‘hard’ sounds (as in cap and gap) before the a of the –able ending. 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 y changes 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 |
| 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 (and either 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 |
| Homophones and other words that are often confused | In the pairs of words opposite, nouns end –ce and verbs end –se. Advice and advise provide 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 word complete – 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 verb guess guest: visitor heard: past tense of the verb hear 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 |
| 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 or who has whose: belonging to someone (e.g. Whose jacket is that?) |
Word list – years 5 and 6
accommodate, accompany, according, achieve, aggressive, amateur, ancient, apparent, appreciate, attached, available, average, awkward, bargain, bruise, category, cemetery, committee, communicate, community, competition, conscience*, conscious*, controversy, convenience, correspond, criticise (critic + ise), curiosity, definite, desperate, determined, develop, dictionary, disastrous, embarrass, environment, equip (–ped, –ment), especially, exaggerate, excellent, existence, explanation, familiar, foreign, forty, frequently, government, guarantee, harass, hindrance, identity, immediate(ly), individual, interfere, interrupt, language, leisure, lightning, marvellous, mischievous, muscle, necessary, neighbour, nuisance, occupy, occur, opportunity, parliament, persuade, physical, prejudice, privilege, profession, programme, pronunciation, queue, recognise, recommend, relevant, restaurant, rhyme, rhythm, sacrifice, secretary, shoulder, signature, sincere(ly), soldier, stomach, sufficient, suggest, symbol, system, temperature, thorough, twelfth, variety, vegetable, vehicle, yacht
Notes and guidance (non-statutory)
Teachers should continue to emphasis to pupils the relationships between sounds and letters, even when the relationships are unusual. Once root words are learnt in this way, longer words can be spelt correctly if the rules and guidance for adding prefixes and suffixes are also known. Many of the words in the list above can be used for practice in adding suffixes. Understanding the history of words and relationships between them can also help with spelling. Examples: Conscience and conscious are related to science: conscience is simply science with the prefix con- added. These words come from the Latin word scio meaning I know. The word desperate, meaning ‘without hope’, is often pronounced in English as desp’rate, but the –*sper- *part comes from the Latin spero, meaning ‘I hope’, in which the e was clearly sounded. Familiar is related to family, so the /ə/ sound in the first syllable of familiar is spelt as a.
International Phonetic Alphabet (non-statutory)
The table below shows each symbol of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and provides examples of the associated grapheme(s). The table is not a comprehensive alphabetic code chart; it is intended simply as guidance for teachers in understanding the IPA symbols used in the spelling appendix (English Appendix 1). The pronunciations in the table are, by convention, based on Received Pronunciation and could be significantly different in other accents.
| Consonants | Vowels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /b/ | bad | /ɑː/ | father, arm | |||
| /d/ | dog | /ɒ/ | hot | |||
| /ð/ | this | /æ/ | cat | |||
| /dʒ/ | gem, jug | /aɪ/ | mind, fine, pie, high | |||
| /f/ | if, puff, photo | /aʊ/ | out, cow | |||
| /ɡ/ | gum | /ɛ/ | hen, head | |||
| /h/ | how | /eɪ/ | say, came, bait | |||
| /j/ | yes | /ɛə/ | air | |||
| /k/ | cat, check, key, school | /əʊ/ | cold, boat, cone, blow | |||
| /l/ | leg, hill | /ɪ/ | hit | |||
| /m/ | man | /ɪə/ | beer | |||
| /n/ | man | /iː/ | she, bead, see, scheme, chief | |||
| /ŋ/ | sing | /ɔː/ | launch, raw, born | |||
| /θ/ | both | /ɔɪ/ | coin, boy | |||
| /p/ | pet | /ʊ/ | book | |||
| /r/ | red | /ʊə/ | tour | |||
| /s/ | sit, miss, cell | /uː/ | room, you, blue, brute | |||
| /ʃ/ | she, chef | /ʌ/ | cup | |||
| /t/ | tea | /ɜː/ | fern, turn, girl | |||
| /tʃ/ | check | /ə/ | farmer | |||
| /v/ | vet | |||||
| /w/ | wet, when | |||||
| /z/ | zip, hens, buzz | |||||
| /ʒ/ | pleasure |
English Appendix 2: Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
The grammar of our first language is learnt naturally and implicitly through interactions with other speakers and from reading. Explicit knowledge of grammar is, however, very important, as it gives us more conscious control and choice in our language. Building this knowledge is best achieved through a focus on grammar within the teaching of reading, writing and speaking. Once pupils are familiar with a grammatical concept [for example ‘modal verb’], they should be encouraged to apply and explore this concept in the grammar of their own speech and writing and to note where it is used by others. Young pupils, in particular, use more complex language in speech than in writing, and teachers should build on this, aiming for a smooth transition to sophisticated writing.
The table below focuses on Standard English and should be read in conjunction with the programmes of study as it sets out the statutory requirements. The table shows when concepts should be introduced first, not necessarily when they should be completely understood. It is very important, therefore, that the content in earlier years be revisited in subsequent years to consolidate knowledge and build on pupils’ understanding. Teachers should also go beyond the content set out here if they feel it is appropriate.
The grammatical terms that pupils should learn are labelled as 'terminology for pupils'. They should learn to recognise and use the terminology through discussion and practice. All terms in bold should be understood with the meanings set out in the Glossary.
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Year 5: Detail of content to be introduced (statutory requirement)
Word Converting nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes [for example, –ate; –ise; –ify] Verb prefixes [for example, dis–, de–, mis–, over– and re–]
Sentence Relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or an omitted relative pronoun Indicating degrees of possibility using adverbs [for example, perhaps, surely] or modal verbs [for example, might, should, will, must]
Text Devices to build cohesion within a paragraph [for example, then, after that, this, firstly] Linking ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time [for example, later], place [for example, nearby] and number [for example, secondly] or tense choices [for example, he had seen her before]
Punctuation Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity
Terminology for pupils modal verb, relative pronoun relative clause parenthesis, bracket, dash cohesion, ambiguity
Year 6: Detail of content to be introduced (statutory requirement)
Word The difference between vocabulary typical of informal speech and vocabulary appropriate for formal speech and writing [for example, find out – discover; ask for – request; go in – enter] How words are related by meaning as synonyms and antonyms [for example, big, large, little].
Sentence Use of the passive to affect the presentation of information in a sentence [for example, I broke the window in the greenhouse versus The window in the greenhouse was broken (by me)]. The difference between structures typical of informal speech and structures appropriate for formal speech and writing [for example, the use of question tags: He’s your friend, isn’t he?, or the use of subjunctive forms such as If I were or Were they to come in some very formal writing and speech]
Text Linking ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive devices: repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections [for example, the use of adverbials such as on the other hand, in contrast, or as a consequence], and ellipsis Layout devices [for example, headings, sub-headings, columns, bullets, or tables, to structure text]
Punctuation Use of the semi-colon, colon and dash to mark the boundary between independent clauses [for example, It’s raining; I’m fed up] Use of the colon to introduce a list and use of semi-colons within lists Punctuation of bullet points to list information How hyphens can be used to avoid ambiguity [for example, man eating shark versus man-eating shark, or recover versus re-cover]
Terminology for pupils subject, object active, passive synonym, antonym ellipsis, hyphen, colon, semi-colon, bullet points