Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency

Last updated: 15 December 2009

Resources for teaching and assessment

Programmes of study
Examples of pupils' work
Encouraging creativity
A language in common
Can do better
Reading differences
Marking: making a difference
More than words
More than words 2
Teaching speaking and listening
The grammar papers
Planning writing
Primary Framework for English

QCDA produces resources to support the teaching and assessment of English in primary schools.

Programmes of study
At key stages 1 and 2, schools must deliver the programmes of study for English. The programmes of study and level descriptions can be found on National Curriculum online.

Examples of pupils' work
The National Curriculum in Action website has examples of pupils' work with commentaries explaining why the work exemplifies a particular national curriculum level. The examples, which are from different pupils, contexts and schools, include video clips of pupils' speaking and listening; pupils' responses to classroom activities; structured tasks and questions, as well as open-ended investigations and test items.

Encouraging creativity
Creativity: find it, promote it helps teachers recognise and promote creativity in the classroom. It includes examples of creativity in English.

A language in common: assessing English as an additional language
Aimed at teachers of pupils with English as an additional language, this booklet sets out principles for assessment and assessment scales. It covers all key stages. Download a PDF (437KB) from this page.

Marking: making a difference
This booklet was the result of a QCA project focusing on progression in writing during key stage 2. It is based on the analysis of a large number of pieces of writing by children in each year of key stage 2 and a short questionnaire on how teachers mark children's writing. It includes materials for three training sessions. Download a PDF (194KB) or buy publication from QCDA orderline.

Reading differences
This project introduces primary pupils to literature from around the world, including poetry, traditional tales, fiction and picture books. Visit the Reading differences web page for a booklist, teaching sequences and introductory leaflets.

More than words: multimodal texts in the classroom
By focusing on multimodal texts, this booklet illustrates how pupils in key stages 1 and 2 use a combination of visual design and language to represent their ideas. It contains cross-curricular examples of children's work and commentaries describing how teachers applied the writing assessment focuses to the work. Download a PDF (489kb) or buy publication from QCDA orderline.

More than words 2: creating stories on page and screen
This second booklet on multimodal texts investigated further children's combination of visual design and language and proposed ways to use writing assessment strands to describe the features of this type of work. Available from QCDA orderline.

Teaching speaking and listening in key stages 1 and 2
Requests from teachers led to the production of this framework of spoken language activities illustrating the speaking and listening requirements of the key stage 1 and 2 programmes of study. The activities provide a structure for medium- and long-term planning. Download a PDF (418kb) or buy publication from QCDA orderline. 

Planning writing
This publication uses evidence from a small-scale study of pupils in years 6 and 9 to make suggestions about the importance of the planning stage in written work. There are suggestions for teachers and activities to help pupils plan effectively. Download a PDF  (1MB)

Primary Framework for English
The Primary National Strategy has produced resources to support early reading and improve reading and writing and materials to support in-school continuing professional development. These can be found on the primary framework area of the Standards site.