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English learning guides

Start with the problem your child faces. Explore an original example, try a short exercise and choose the next guide or practice that fits.

Common parent questions

Find a useful next step for assessment, dictation, reading, grammar or writing difficulties.

A P5 child and parent sort English practice cards at home to plan what to revise first.

Common parent questions · P5

How to plan P5 English revision for school assessment

Use your child’s school notice, marked work and repeated mistakes to plan focused P5 English revision, with an original record and a short exercise.

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A park keeper retrieves a water bottle from under a bench while a child and parent watch.

Common parent questions · P5 / P6

How to review an English story before school assessment

Use an original story to check event order, tense and an ending that follows the problem, then let your child revise one part independently.

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A boy and his father check English grammar practice cards at home to find what needs more work.

Common parent questions · P5 / P6

How to diagnose grammar mistakes in P5–P6 revision

Separate gaps in a rule from misunderstanding meaning or missing a clue, then check understanding with a new original question.

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A child and parent watch two dogs running in a park and use the familiar scene to practise a full sentence.

Common parent questions · P1 / P2

Helping P1–P2 children use basic English grammar

Begin with the meaning of a simple sentence, then help a child notice one useful clue and use the form in a different sentence.

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After football practice, a child eats a sandwich with a parent, giving familiar context for using English words.

Common parent questions · P1 / P2 / P3 / P4

When a child forgets words after English dictation

Use reading, speaking, writing and a later retry to see whether a child understands a word beyond one dictation score.

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A girl waters a classroom plant with dry yellow leaves by the window and notices details that help explain the story.

Common parent questions · P3 / P4 / P5 / P6

Helping a child find evidence in English reading

An original short passage helps a child identify the question, locate evidence and distinguish a direct answer from an inference.

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A boy picks up coloured pencils dropped by his classmate, who looks grateful.

Common parent questions · P4 / P5 / P6

Helping a child add useful detail to an English story

Use an original short story to add an action, reason or response that helps P4–P6 readers follow the event, without padding the word count.

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Grammar guides

Explore rules and meanings through clear examples and short exercises with explained answers.

A girl puts a red apple into a lunch box beside a book, a wooden ruler and an open green schoolbag.

Grammar guides · P1

Choosing a or an: start with the sound

Choose a or an by listening to the next word, with original school-day examples, common pitfalls and a short exercise with explained answers.

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A father drives a green family car while his son, wearing a seat belt in the rear seat, looks out of the window.

Grammar guides · P1 / P2

Present simple or present continuous?

Compare routines and actions happening now, with original examples, third-person verb forms, be + -ing and a short exercise with explanations.

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In a classroom, a child points to a bowl of apples while a teacher gestures towards a clear jug of water.

Grammar guides · P3

Many or much? Countable and uncountable nouns

Identify the noun’s meaning before choosing many or much, with original everyday examples, units of quantity and a short explained exercise.

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Three trees stand on one bench: the shortest in a red pot, the middle-height tree in a blue pot and the tallest in a green pot.

Grammar guides · P4

Comparatives and superlatives: taller or tallest?

Use the comparison and its group to choose comparative or superlative forms, with original examples, spelling guidance and an explained correction exercise.

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At a library counter, a girl hands a closed green book to a librarian, with bookshelves behind them.

Grammar guides · P3 / P5

Past simple or present perfect?

Compare a finished past time with a connection to the present, practise have/has plus a past participle, and explain choices in original situations.

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Three girls stand outside a classroom; only the girl in the middle is holding a blue folder.

Grammar guides · P6

Joining ideas with who, which and that

Identify people and things with defining relative clauses, using original joining examples and explained practice with who, which and that.

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Writing guides

Help your child plan from pictures, connect events and choose an ending for their own story.

Two children watch from the ground as a park keeper retrieves a green kite from a tree with a long pole.

Writing guides · P4

How to start P4 picture composition with four guiding questions

Help a P4 learner turn pictures into a story using four planning questions, an original worked example and a short exercise with an explained answer.

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In a school garden, two children hold a plant while a caretaker offers a spare pot beside a broken one.

Writing guides · P4 / P5 / P6

How to write an ending for a picture composition

Help a primary learner write an ending that follows the pictures, with two original examples and a short exercise about actions, feelings and what happens next.

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A father and daughter choose fruit at a market; the girl puts an orange into a green reusable bag.

Writing guides · P4 / P5 / P6

Using the past tense in picture composition: examples and common mistakes

Choose a tense from the task’s timeline, then practise simple-past forms, irregular verbs and did not with an original story and explained sentence corrections.

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A child points to picture cards while a parent listens, with an open notebook and pencil on the desk.

Writing guides · P4 / P5 / P6

Helping your child plan a story with guiding questions

Support P4–P6 picture composition with open questions, spoken planning and one editing focus at a time, using an original parent-child example and a short exercise.

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Browse picture composition