Year 1 English

Year 1 English – overview

Year 1 bridges the play-based EYFS approach and early formal learning. We secure phonics fluency, confident decoding, and build sentence-level writing. Pupils learn to spell common exception words, write short connected sentences, and enjoy regular story discussions to grow comprehension and vocabulary.

Curriculum priorities

• Phonics & decoding: secure Phase 3–5 grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs); blend for reading and segment for spelling.
• Reading comprehension: retell stories, predict, and answer who/what/where questions; identify favourite parts of familiar texts.
• High-frequency & common exception words: build automatic recognition and spelling accuracy for the Year 1 CEW list.
• Writing: form lower-case and capital letters correctly; write simple sentences using capital letters, finger spaces, and full stops.
• Vocabulary & grammar: use and to join ideas; add adjectives and time connectives; say sentences aloud before writing.
• Handwriting & presentation: develop consistent size and spacing; introduce basic joins for fluent writing later on.

Assessments

• Phonics Screening Check: national one-to-one test in June checking fluency in decoding real and nonsense words. See our Phonics Check overview.
• Teacher assessment: ongoing classroom observations and small written tasks in reading, spelling, and sentence construction.
• No Year 1 SATs: formal SATs are not part of the Year 1 curriculum. Year 2 includes optional end-of-KS1 tests.

How we help

• Phonics mastery: daily blending/segmenting with visual aids and multisensory routines for retention.
• Confidence in writing: guided sentence-building with structured feedback and praise for effort and progress.
• Reading support: one-to-one fluency checks, phonics-aligned readers, and comprehension games.
• Small groups: targeted feedback on decoding, spelling and handwriting for fast progression.
• Parental clarity: concise, actionable feedback with simple home reading and spelling strategies.

Looking ahead

Through Year 1 we build phonics fluency, decoding confidence and strong sentence-writing habits. Pupils develop the stamina and structure for Year 2 writing and are ready for the Year 2 Phonics re-check if needed. This stage sets up the transition to independent reading and writing across KS1.

Other Year 1 subjects

• Maths

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