Grid References and Directions
A square by a letter and a number
A grid reference system lays a grid of squares over a map or a picture. The columns are named with letters along the bottom, A, B, C and so on, and the rows with numbers up the side, 1, 2, 3. A grid reference gives the column letter first and the row number second, so B3 names the one square where column B and row 3 meet. It points to a whole square rather than a single dot, which is how street directories, sports-ground maps and board games find a place. In Year 5 the same grid grows into coordinates, which name the exact points where the lines cross.
Reading a reference
Reading a grid reference runs the other way: find the square, then read its column letter along the bottom and its row number up the side. A tree in the square above C and beside 2 is in C2. Writing the letter first every time is the convention that lets everyone read a reference the same way. Moving between a square on the grid and its reference, in both directions, is the core skill of a grid system, and it is exactly how a map turns a location into something you can write down and share.
Directions and turning
Grid systems also use compass directions: north, south, east and west. On a map, up the page is north, down is south, right is east and left is west. A turn changes the way you face by a known amount: a half turn from north faces you south, a quarter turn right from north faces you east. Combining a starting direction with a turn tells you the new direction without guessing. Directions and turns describe movement and facing, while grid references describe location, so a position can be both named and changed.
Following a pathway
A pathway on a grid map is a route described by directions and distances: start in A1, go 2 squares east, then 3 squares north, then 1 square east. Following it leg by leg, and naming the square after each leg, keeps track of where you are: C1, then C4, then D4. Counting the squares moved, six in all, gives the length of the route. Giving and following directions like these is how a grid map describes a pathway, not just a place.
Naming a movement
A move from one square to another has a direction that can be named. From B2 to D2 the letter moves on from B to D while the number stays the same, so the move is across to the right: east. From C1 to C4 the letter stays the same and the number grows, so the move is up the grid: north. Reading which part of the reference changes, and which way, joins grid references to the compass, and it is the skill behind giving directions on a map, where each leg of a journey is a move in a named direction.
Maps run on grid references
A grid map gives every place a grid reference: the school in B1, the park in D3, the shop in A4. With a reference for each place and directions between them, anyone can find a place and describe how to get there. Drawing a grid over a classroom or playground map, labelling the columns with letters and the rows with numbers, is how a child creates a grid reference system rather than only reading one. Squares found and named, directions and turns understood, and pathways followed are the practical geometry that maps, games and screens all depend on.