Word Reading Foundational Skills Progression Grid

Strand

EYFS

Year 1

Year 2

Phonological Awareness

Hears and identifies environmental sounds

 Recognises rhyme and alliteration

 Claps syllables 

Oral blending and segmenting 

Confident oral blending and segmenting

 Uses phonological awareness to support decoding

Applies phonological knowledge automatically when decoding unfamiliar words

Phonics Knowledge

Recognises taught graphemes

 Knows corresponding phonemes

 Begins to read simple CVC words 

Secure with Phase 3–5

 Reads a wide range of decodable words

 Applies phonics to unfamiliar words

Secure with full alphabetic code

 Reads multisyllabic words using taught GPCs

 Applies phonics flexibly and confidently

Blending for Reading

Blends simple CVC words with support

 Begins to blend unfamiliar words independently

Blends confidently and consistently

 Moves from slow blending to more automatic reading 

Blending is automatic and fluent

 Reads with increasing speed and accuracy

Common Exception Words

Recognises a small set of high-frequency words

Reads taught common exception words automatically 

Reads a wide range of exception words fluently and in context

Automaticity

Begins to recognise familiar words quickly

 Relies on decoding

Increasingly automatic with familiar words

 Decodes new words efficiently

Reads most words on sight

 Decodes unfamiliar words rapidly and accurately

Morphology

Notices simple endings in spoken language

Reads words with simple suffixes and some prefixes

Reads words with a wider range of prefixes and suffixes 

Reading Vocabulary

Builds a small bank of independently read words 

Recognises patterns in simple words 

Expands reading vocabulary through phonics and exposure

Reads a broad range of words across subjects

Vocabulary Development

Enjoys and talks about new words in stories and conversations

 Begins to explain the meaning of familiar words

Learns and uses new vocabulary from reading, story time and curriculum learning

Begins to discuss word meanings and make links between words

Develops and applies increasingly ambitious vocabulary from reading across the curriculum

 Explains word meanings and uses new vocabulary accurately in discussion and reading responses

Application in Texts

Reads simple decodable books

 Reads from left to right

 Turns the page in a book

Reads decodable books with increasing fluency and expression

Reads with appropriate phrasing in decodable texts.

Re-reads texts to build fluency and confidence

Reads age-appropriate texts with fluency, accuracy, independence

Develops expression, intonation and phrasing

Self-corrects when meaning breaks down.

Handwriting Foundational Skills Progression Grid

Strand

EYFS

Year 1

Year 2

Physical Readiness

Develops hand and finger strength 

Builds gross-motor stability 

Improves hand-eye coordination

Uses controlled movements 

Maintains stable posture

Writes with stamina

Maintains control and fluency

Mark-Making

Explores marks and patterns 

Imitates shapes 

Forms letters with increasing control

Writes with consistent control and fluency

Pencil Grip

Moves to tripod grip

Uses tripod grip consistently

Maintains correct grip automatically 

Letter Formation

Uses correct starting and finishing points

 Forms name letters

 Learns letters through formation families.

Forms lowercase letters appropriately.

Forms all low and upper case letters correctly 

Consistent size

 Letters sit on line

Forms letters fluently

 Clear ascenders/descenders

Spacing & Presentation

Begins left-to-right

 Emerging finger spaces

Regular finger spaces

 Consistent size

 Neat presentation 

Consistent spacing and line placement across longer pieces

Beginning to Join

Not expected

Develops readiness for joining through secure formation and orientation

Begins to use the school's agreed joins consistently

Joins letters correctly in taught joins

Maintains accurate letter formation when joining 

Knows non-joining letters 

Develops fluency 

Presentation Across the Curriculum

Takes pride in mark-making and early writing

Begins to present work carefully

Presents written work neatly using correct letter formation, spacing and layout in different subjects

Maintains presentation standards across curriculum writing

Produces consistently neat, legible and fluent handwriting in longer pieces of work

Fluency & Stamina

Writes short words with emerging control

Writes sentences with growing fluency

Writes longer pieces with stamina and pride 

Spelling Foundational Skills Progression Grid

Strand

EYFS

Year 1

Year 2

Phonological Awareness

Hears sounds; Segments simple words

 Maps sounds to letters

Segments words to spell

 Uses phonological awareness

Segments multisyllabic words

 Applies phonological knowledge automatically 

Phonics Knowledge

Writes letters for sounds 

Spells simple CVC words 

Begins using digraphs 

Uses Phase 3–5 GPCs

 Applies phonics to unfamiliar words

Uses full GPC range

 Spells multisyllabic words using phonics and rules

Common Exception Words

Writes some high-frequency words 

Spells taught CEWs accurately

Spells a wide range of CEWs consistently

Spelling Patterns

Notices simple patterns

Learns basic rules (s, es, ing, ed)

 Understands vowel digraphs

Applies wider rules (drop e, double consonants, y→ies)

Morphology

Notices endings like s, ing

Spells words with simple suffixes and some prefixes (un)

Spells words with prefixes and suffixes (un-, dis-, re-, -ful, -less, -ment, -ness) 

High-Frequency Words

Writes familiar words

 Attempts story words

Builds growing bank of correctly spelled words

Spells a wide range of high-frequency and curriculum words 

Spelling Strategies

Uses phonics to attempt spelling

Uses taught spelling strategies and word knowledge

Selects appropriate spelling strategies independently and edits own work

Vocabulary Development

Uses familiar vocabulary in speaking and attempts to represent these words in writing

Spells and writes an increasing range of familiar and topic-based vocabulary

Begins to retain and apply newly learned words

Applies newly learned vocabulary accurately in writing across the curriculum

Uses a growing bank of subject-specific and ambitious vocabulary independently

Application in Writing

Uses phonics to attempt words

Applies spelling in sentences

 Begins self-correction

Applies rules consistently

 Proofreads for accuracy