Language, Literacy and Communication
Skills Writing 

Writing 1

•  Children experiment with making purposeful marks, shapes and symbols, and are starting to use implements in either hand.
• They use scribbles, shapes or pictures to express a sentence.

Writing 2

•  Children write letters or symbols randomly when experimenting with mark making, demonstrating an understanding of the directionality of written print, and they realise that the spoken word can be written down.
• They identify some letter sounds through exploration of their shape.
• With support, they orally compose a sentence to a form modelled by an adult.

Writing 3 

• Children recognise the alphabetic nature of writing and can form some letters and on occasion simple words and phrases, writing from left to right.
• They discriminate between letters, use correct initial consonants and begin to use spelling strategies to spell vowel-consonant, consonant-vowel-consonant and high-frequency words.
• They distinguish between upper- and lower-case letters and show an awareness of full stops and spaces between words.
• They contribute to a form modelled by an adult, showing developing understanding of different formats and conveying meaning by sequencing words, symbols and pictures.
• They orally compose and dictate a sentence, describing events, experiences and pictures to communicate meaning.

Writing 4

•  Children form upper- and lower-case letters which are usually clearly shaped and correctly orientated.
• They use spelling strategies to spell longer consonant-vowel-consonant and high-frequency words conventionally and are developing their phonemic awareness.
• They begin to use connectives and some ordering words when writing and use capital letters and full stops with some degree of consistency.
• They independently use written language for different purposes, following a form modelled by an adult, and can sequence content correctly.
• They talk about what they are going to write and use a simple plan to support and organise writing.

Writing 5

•  Children form upper- and lower-case letters accurately, with consistent size and orientation.
• They use their knowledge of syllables to spell high-frequency and polysyllabic words including some simple suffixes.
• They use connectives, ordering words, expressive punctuation and simple grammar accurately when writing.
• They use written language for different audiences, building on a form modelled by an adult, and can sequence and structure content correctly and extend their writing.
• They use talk to plan and re-read and improve their writing to ensure it makes sense.