Literacy Skills Checklist/Guide – Preparing for the NZ Literacy Co-requisite exams
This checklist is designed to help you, as a parent or caregiver, understand the foundational writing and language skills your child needs to successfully prepare for the New Zealand Literacy Co-requisite exams.
Who is this for?
This guide is for anyone, educators and parents of children in Years 4 to 8 who want to understand their child’s literacy strengths and gaps in grammar, sentence structure, writing, and vocabulary. These skills are essential for meeting the expectations of the NCEA Literacy Co-requisite and should be developed well before high school.
Why is this important?
The NCEA Co-requisite exams require strong reading and writing skills, including the ability to write with structure, use correct grammar, and comprehend a range of texts. Many of these foundational skills may not have been taught explicitly in earlier years, so it’s important for families to be aware of them now.
Even if a reader/writer is or could be provided for your child in formal assessments, they will still need to be able to clearly explain their ideas, indicate where punctuation should go, and describe the structure of their writing. They must guide the adult on how they want their story or response to be written, including the correct grammar, vocabulary, and tone. This means they still need to understand these literacy skills themselves, even if someone else is writing it for them.
We need to start thinking about these skills now, not leave it up to secondary teachers, who are already under pressure. The more literacy knowledge and confidence we can give our kids early and I mean we, as parents working alongside teachers, the easier their journey through school will be. Together, we can give our children the tools they need to succeed.
Information from the DEB website
This checklist/ guide has been created by combining of links and pages of information from DEB website (www.deb.co.nz) to help you, as a parent or home educator, identify the writing and language skills your child already knows and the areas they may need more support with.
How to use this document:
Not every child will need to be assessed on every skill listed in this checklist. It’s important not to overwhelm your child with unnecessary assessments. The full list of skills has been included here simply for convenience, to help you see everything in one place. You may only need to focus on a few key areas at a time, depending on your child’s age, strengths, and current needs. Use this as a flexible guide to support your child’s development, not as a test to complete from start to finish. Go through each section with your child. Ask them to demonstrate the skill listed, either in writing, through conversation, or by completing a short task. If they are unsure or inconsistent, that’s a sign the skill needs more support.
- Go through one section at a time. Read the explanation under each heading first, it will help you understand what to look for.
- Ask your child to demonstrate the skill listed, either in writing, through conversation, or by doing a short activity. You don’t need to do it all in one day, take your time.
- Tick the box if your child can do the skill confidently. If they are unsure, inconsistent, or don’t understand the concept yet, leave it blank.
- Make notes about any difficulties or questions you have. These can help you plan what to teach next or what to ask for help with.
What does this cover?
This tool focuses on core foundational writing and language skills: handwriting, reading and spelling, grammar, word parts (morphology), sentence structure, and vocabulary.
What if there are a lot of gaps?
That’s okay! Every child has gaps, especially if writing has been a challenge. This checklist isn’t a test; it’s a guide to help you focus on what skills need to be taught, start a conversation with the teacher and/or look at getting the right resources.
What next?
Once you know what your child needs to learn you can start creating a plan. The important thing is to start now, the earlier you support these skills, the more confident and prepared your child will be when it comes time to sit the literacy co-requisite exams.
Talk to your child’s teacher about what you notice. Share this checklist with them if you think it will be helpful. You can also speak to the school’s SENCO (Special Education Needs Coordinator) if your child needs additional support. Together, you can discuss what support might be offered in class and what you could reinforce at home.
Consider exploring options such as targeted resources, home-based support activities, or even working with a structured literacy tutor. A tutor with experience in supporting children with learning differences can help fill in gaps and boost confidence. The key is to act early, so your child builds strong skills step by step.
When schools and families work together, we can help our children succeed.
What if my child is neurodivergent?
If your child is neurodivergent such as having ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or other learning differences, this checklist can still be a helpful guide. You may notice uneven skills or that some tasks feel harder than others. That’s completely normal. Once you have the information you need the goal will be to focus on what your child can do, go at a pace that works for them, and adapt tasks to reduce overwhelm (e.g., use oral responses instead of writing, break activities into steps, or use visuals and prompts).
If your child is still attending school but seems frequently exhausted, overwhelmed, or is just “holding it together” to get through the day, it might be a sign they are experiencing neurodivergent burnout. This isn’t about them not trying hard enough — it’s about how much they can actually cope with. While most of the research focuses on autism, many in the wider neurodivergent (ND) community agree that burnout can affect all ND children, including those with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning differences.
Recognising this can help you and your child’s teacher work together to make thoughtful adjustments, like reducing demands, building in recovery time, and scaffolding learning. A document on autistic burnout is included with this checklist to help you understand what might be going on beneath the surfaceAutistic Burnout Link https://www.deb.co.nz/education/school/autistic-burnout-guide-for-parents-and-kids/
Link to the full document can be found here Literacy Checklist – Guide for Co Reqs