Progression in writing (punctuation & grammar)
Children are taught to…
Year group
R
Use phonic knowledge to write words/labels/captions/simple sentences in ways which match spoken sounds.
1
Separate words with spaces.
Understand that capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks can be used to demarcate sentences.
Use capital letters for names and personal pronouns.
2
Use capital letters and full stops accurately in at least 50% of writing.
Use some question marks and exclamation marks.
Start to use commas to separate items in a list.
Use apostrophes to mark where letters are missing in spellings and to mark singular possession in nouns
(e.g. the girl’s name).
3
Start to use speech marks and commas to punctuate direct speech.
Accurately use commas in lists.
Use question marks and exclamation marks more accurately.
4
Use full stops, capital letters, question and exclamation marks correctly in almost all sentences.
Use speech punctuation with some other punctuation e.g. a comma, exclamation mark or question mark
(e.g. The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”).
Use apostrophes to mark singular and plural possession (e.g. the girl’s name, the girls’ names).
Use a comma after an adverb at the start of a sentence (e.g. Slowly, the hunter crept through the forest.).
5
All sentences are accurately punctuated throughout the text.
Use dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis in a sentence (e.g. The hunter, who was tracking a stag, crept through the
forest.).
Use commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity.
Use brackets accurately in a sentence.
Use commas to separate phrases or clauses within a sentence.
Use speech punctuation correctly with a new line for each speaker.
6
Use a semi-colon, colon and dash to mark the boundary between independent clauses (e.g. It’s raining; I’m fed up.)
Use a colon to introduce a list.
Use semi-colons within lists.
Use bullet points to list information.
Use hyphens to avoid ambiguity (e.g. man-eating shark instead of man eating shark).