A quick walk through expanded noun phrases - what the national curriculum says about them, some of the myths busted and a selection of ideas to teach this important aspect of grammar across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

You know how hard it is to pull all the strands of literacy together so that everything makes sense. And, you know how important it is to teach this huge range of literacy skills in a context that makes sense to the children. That’s why so many of us choose to use children’s books as the stimulus for our literacy learning. In this article, I open a window on my approach to planning literacy learning with children’s books.

Putting knowledge at the core of the curriculum is a key area of development in most schools at the moment; after all, knowledge is power. Consequently, the presence of Knowledge Organisers, Knowledge Quizzes and staff training on Retrieval Practice can be felt all around us.

But what about key knowledge in primary English? What knowledge is required to be successful in primary English and what can we do in our classrooms to support this in engaging and memorable ways?

If you’re looking for a resource that links grammar to high-quality children’s books, our Starting Points Overview is just the thing. Find out more about this invaluable resource in this short article by our Director, Rachel Clarke.