Years 5 and 6 English · Key Stage 2 · Writing – composition

Years 5 and 6 planning writing: audience and purpose

Good writing starts before the first sentence. In Years 5 and 6, children are taught to plan by asking who they are writing for and why, choosing a form that suits both, studying similar writing as a model, and noting and developing ideas, using reading and research where needed. For stories they also look at how authors build characters and settings. Planning gives writing a clear direction and makes it easier to write at length.

Planning for audience and purpose, explained

The first questions a writer asks are about audience and purpose. The audience is the person or group who will read the writing: a younger child, a head teacher, a newspaper reader, a friend. The purpose is what the writing is meant to do, usually to entertain, to inform, to persuade or to discuss, and sometimes more than one. A letter asking a head teacher for something and a diary entry about a school trip may cover the same events, yet the vocabulary, tone, length and structure will all be different. Children learn that these two questions shape every later choice.

Once audience and purpose are clear, children select the form: a story, a letter, a newspaper report, a leaflet, a speech, a diary entry, an explanation or something else. They are taught to use other similar writing as models. This does not mean copying. They read a good letter or report, find its features, such as how it opens, how paragraphs are organised, what kind of language is used and how it ends, and then use those features to write something new about their own topic. Many classrooms keep a list of these features, sometimes called success criteria, for children to check against.

Next they note and develop initial ideas. Teachers show planning by thinking aloud: they jot down a first thought, ask what else they could say, cross something out, and reread. Children use methods such as spider diagrams, mind maps, lists or boxed planning frames, and they are encouraged to draw on reading and research, taking notes in their own words rather than copying whole sentences. A plan is a working tool. It can be short, and it can change once drafting starts.

For stories, planning also means thinking about characters and settings. Children look at how authors have developed these in books they have read, in plays or films they have seen performed, and in stories they have listened to. They notice that an author shows character through what someone does, says and thinks, and that a setting can create mood as well as place. They then plan their own: who is the main character, what do they want, where is the story set, and how will the setting make the reader feel? This feeds directly into the drafting work done later.

Planning matters for the Year 6 teacher assessment of writing, which looks at a range of work in different forms. It also matters in timed situations at secondary school, where a three-minute plan makes the difference between a focused answer and one that wanders. The aim is to get children into the habit of a quick plan rather than writing a long one.

Words your child will hear

Audience: The people who will read or hear your writing.
Purpose: The reason for writing: to entertain, inform, persuade or discuss.
Form: The type of writing, such as a letter, a report or a story.
Model text: An example of good writing used to learn the features of a form.
Brainstorm: Noting as many ideas as possible before choosing the best.
Success criteria: A checklist of what a good piece of this kind of writing should include.
Character profile: Notes about a character’s appearance, personality, wishes and fears.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to:

Plan their writing by identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own
Plan their writing by noting and developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary
Plan narrative writing by considering how authors have developed characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen performed

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: planning a persuasive letter

Your child is asked to write to the head teacher to persuade her to set up a wildlife garden in the school grounds. How might they plan?

Audience: the head teacher. She is an adult who is responsible for the budget, time and safety, so she will want good reasons and will worry about cost and upkeep. The tone should be polite and formal.
Purpose and form: the purpose is to persuade, with some information. The form is a formal letter, with an address, “Dear Mrs…”, paragraphs and a sign-off such as “Yours sincerely”.
Model: read a persuasive letter or leaflet and pick out its features. It opens by saying what is wanted, gives reasons in separate paragraphs, deals with likely worries and ends by asking for a decision.
Ideas and research: brainstorm benefits (habitats for insects and birds, outdoor science lessons, a quiet space at break time) and find out facts, such as which plants attract bees and how much upkeep is needed. Notes are written as short phrases in the child’s own words.
Plan the paragraphs: (1) the request, (2) how it helps learning, (3) how it helps wellbeing and wildlife, (4) answering worries about cost and upkeep, (5) closing request and an offer of help.
```
1 Request
2 Learning benefits
3 Wellbeing + wildlife
4 Cost and upkeep answered
5 Close + offer to help
```

A five-paragraph plan for a formal persuasive letter, built around what the head teacher needs to hear. Only then does the writing begin.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking planning is a waste of time and it is better to start writing

Planning can feel like extra work, and some children worry about running out of time.

What helps: Try a three-minute plan together. Children who plan usually write more, stay on topic and find the middle of a piece easier. A plan can be a handful of words.

Assuming the audience is always the teacher

Most school writing is marked by a teacher, so children write for the marker rather than the stated reader.

What helps: Ask, “Who is this for?” and “What do they already know?” Give a real reader whenever possible, such as a relative, a younger class or a shop.

Believing that using a model means copying it

Children are asked to look closely at an example and then write something similar, and the difference between learning from it and copying is not obvious.

What helps: Focus on features, not sentences. Ask, “What does the author do at the start?” and then, “How could you do that about your own subject?”

Planning a story as plot only

Children think of stories as a list of events, so characters and settings seem like decoration.

What helps: Ask questions about the main character: what do they want, what are they afraid of? Ask what the setting feels like and why. Plot comes from character.

How to help at home

Write for a real reader. Ask your child to write a short request to a relative, a note for a neighbour or a recommendation for a friend. Real readers make audience and purpose obvious.
Compare two texts on one topic. Read a leaflet and a story about, say, a day at the seaside, or the letters page and a news report. Talk about how the language and layout differ and why.
Make a spider diagram together. Before a family trip, brainstorm what to write about on a postcard, a diary and a report for school. Notice which ideas suit which audience.
Interview a character. Choose a character from a book your child is reading and ask questions as though they were in the room: what do you want most, what scares you? This helps children plan characters of their own.
Collect settings. Notice how places are shown in books, plays and films. Ask what the setting tells you about the mood, and how your child would describe a place from their own life in a way that creates a feeling.

Builds on

Years 3 and 4: Planning by learning from model texts
Years 3 and 4: Drafting sentences, paragraphs and stories
Years 3 and 4: Editing, proofreading and reading aloud

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Writing for different purposes
Key Stage 3: Organising and rhetorical devices
Key Stage 3: Drafting, editing and proofreading