Should we be teaching fronted adverbials?

The question first arose when Michael Gove introduced his knowledge-rich curriculum in 2014 but comes to the fore now in 2026, on the eve of the curriculum reforms.

No – we shouldn’t be teaching fronted adverbials!

A national curriculum must be rigorous to provide a clear standard for all. Whilst progressive education (pupil-centred, experimental, based on real world experience) is often ineffective – especially for

our most disadvantaged learners, the 2014 curriculum is at the other extreme (is often seen as rigid, prescriptive, formulaic). There are pages and pages of grammar terms for pupils to learn by the age of 11: fronted adverbials, present perfect tense, subordination, subjunctive to name a few.

Do we really think learning all these terms helps pupils to become better writers? Michael Rosen certainly doesn’t think so. In his letter to Michael Gove when the 2014 NC was being released, he

commented ‘… learning without understanding, learning motivated by test-scores, learning lists of facts that the minister of education approves of, rather than learning how to ask questions, how to find things out, how to interpret and evaluate, how to be a learner.’ As an educator it makes you reflect, should we be allowing more time for creativity, experimentation, playing with language without the confinement of grammar rules and terminology?

Yes – we should be teaching fronted adverbials!

If we don’t teach pupils a range of ways to add detail to their writing, and how to support the structure of their writing, how are they going to know what they can use? Standalone grammar lessons, or learning lists of grammar have little effect on pupils’ ability to write, but when grammar is taught linked to the purpose of writing, how it can support and affect a reader, it is much more powerful. Once you know the job of a fronted adverbial and how to create one from effective vocabulary choices, you can add both detail and structure to your writing.

There is a strong body of evidence demonstrating that metacognition and self-regulation improve attainment, particularly for disadvantaged learners. The EEF produced a guidance report in 2025 ‘Metacognition and Self-regulated Learning’ and it outlines the effectiveness of metacognitive talk. So, if we want to support pupils with metacognition and the tools to effectively plan, monitor and evaluate their learning, surely we need to give them the terminology to enable them to do this.

Metacognitive talk starts with the teacher modelling their thinking aloud e.g. I want to set the scene of my paragraph so my reader knows where we are. I could use a fronted adverbial for this. I might not want to say something obvious like ‘In the forest’ but hint at where we are.’ Then they may set tasks for peer talk, gradually releasing responsibility from teacher to pupil ‘Chat to your partner to create some fronted adverbials. Think carefully about the words you’ll need to use to create a fronted adverbial (under the branches of the old oak tree, between the tall trunks, in the dappled shade). The teacher may encourage evaluation and reflection part way through the task ‘Now consider how effective your fronted adverbials are? Let’s share and discuss them. How effective are the nouns you’ve chosen? Do they hint at the setting being a forest? Have you used a preposition which describes the position of the character?’ This metacognitive talk would lack clarity without the use of the terms: fronted adverbial, noun and preposition, for example.

Considering whether fronted adverbials should remain in the 2027 version of the national curriculum, let’s think about Becky Francis’s Curriculum and Assessment Review. It is titled, ‘Building a world class curriculum for all’. That’s what we need to hold dear – ‘for all’ Not just a curriculum for pupils who will find writer’s techniques through reading rich texts, not just for those pupils whose parents work in professions which enable high-quality talk at home, not just for those pupils born in Britain who attended state nursery and experienced a high-quality early years education. A national curriculum has to be for every child. So, yes, let’s teach them all what a fronted adverbial is. Every child should be able to leave primary school writing a page of fiction or non-fiction, write in paragraphs, begin each paragraph using a device to orientate, and be able to add enough detail to engage the reader. This gives them a fighting chance of being able to write reports in science, information in geography, comparisons in history and narratives in English when they hit the ground running in year 7.

As educators, and experts in all aspects of the 2014 curriculum, as we move forward, we’re now hoping for greater freedom, more streamlined content and the time to teach pupils both knowledge and skills needed to support a life-long education. Maybe we don’t need the subjunctive, passive or present perfect tense but I am hoping we do keep a fronted adverbial!