In both lower and upper KS2, England’s English curriculum asks pupils to support inferences about characters with evidence. An inference is an idea worked out from clues, rather than a fact directly stated.
Try this short, invented passage: “As the classroom door opened, Maya pushed the broken ruler beneath her book.” Ask: How might Maya be feeling, and what suggests that?
“She is worried” gives a possible feeling but no explanation. “Maya broke the ruler” adds an event the passage does not establish. A stronger response is: “Maya may be worried that someone will see the ruler, because she hides it as the door opens.” This connects an interpretation to an action while recognising that another explanation is possible.
A child who needs support could begin, “Maya may feel … because …”. Then try answering without that sentence starter and point to the words that support the idea. For an upper-KS2 reader, build towards explaining and comparing clues across a longer text.
Writing needs its own practice too. In Years 3–4, rehearse a sentence aloud and group sentences about the same topic into a paragraph. In Years 5–6, consider who will read the piece and how each paragraph follows from the last. A tutor can use a short piece of the child’s writing to agree one revision to practise.
Turn the observation into a brief: “Please check whether the difficulty is finding a clue or explaining how it supports an answer.” Keep a new reading response for the review, so the comparison is not just a neater copy of the original.
