Writing
We want our children to Enjoy, Believe and Achieve. We are committed to delivering a writing curriculum which enables all our children to become confident and ambitious, lifelong learners. We have extremely high expectations for every child to be a writer. We are committed to developing every child’s knowledge and skills so they are not only strong writers, but writing is a mechanism to develop and demonstrate a curiosity, aspiration and a love of learning that spans across the curriculum and into adulthood.
Intent
We want our children to love writing and for it to be a way for them to express and develop their creativity. Underpinning this is an absolute commitment to ensure that all children have the fundamental skills, providing them with the platform to become strong, confident writers.
Our writing curriculum is designed to maximise the impact of both of these areas on the children as writers and learners. We follow the award-winning Ready Steady Write from Literacy Counts to develop confident, independent and successful writers with high aspirations. This research-informed and impact-proved scheme has been carefully selected to support all children master the foundational skills to enable them to write for a clear audience and with purpose. Through the use of high-quality, vocabulary-rich texts, we provide exciting and meaningful reasons to write.
Effective questioning is a crucial component of all our lessons. Key questions are planned to encourage children to think about their learning, to reflect upon previous learning and to make connections between new and existing learning. Core principles of metacognition are continually developed to allow children to evaluate their own work and learning; increase their knowledge of themselves as learners; and then have the desire and ability to make positive choices to improve these areas. Children are taught specifically how to do this through frequent opportunities to assess, edit and improve their own writing.
Our spelling curriculum is desined to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children. We follow the award-recognised Ready Steady Spell by Literacy Counts to ensure that all pupils become fluent, accurate spellers. Our spelling curriculum is research-informed and impact-proven, helping children to secure the essential skills and strategies they need to spell confidently across the curriculum. Through engaging activities, consistent teaching routines and regular opportunities to revisit prior learning, our aim is to help children move spelling knowledge into their long-term memory. We want all children to become confident writers who are equipped with the tools they need to communicate clearly and effectively.
Implementation
Writing begins with the physical development of fine and gross motor skills to enable children to pick up a pencil and begin to mark making leading to creative and confident writers through the primary years.
Motor skills are developed through implementing the Martin Harvey handwriting scheme, which is taught from Year 1 to Year 6. Children are encouraged to apply their taught handwriting skills across the curriculum and aim for “Gold Star Standard” presentation.
In our Phonics lessons we follow the Read, Write Inc scheme. This helps to support children to transfer sounds to print. Children are then encouraged to use their phonic knowledge in their writing. The scheme is a phased approach introduced in EYFS and continued through to Year 2. From Year 2 through to Year 6 children follow the Ready Steady Spell scheme which covers spelling strategies and methods for learning commonly misspelt words for each year group. Spelling is taught in a clear and systematic way, with regular reviews and assessments. Additional support is provided through Ready Steady Spell: Go sessions, which offer targeted intervention for pupils who need further consolidation.
In Early Years the writing journey begins from mark making to sentences, every child explores writing through our provision and every day practise.
From EYFS – 6 we follow Ready Steady Write, children are immersed in literature and taught to craft their writing with precision, using a range of pedagogical approaches, including sentence accuracy, modelled writing and shared writing, as well as regular opportunities for self assessment and editing. We value spoken language as a foundation for writing. Through structured talk, drama and vocabulary exploration, children learn how to organise and express their ideas clearly before writing them down.
We have enjoyed working with Sarah Oliver, Daniel Henshaw and Denise Popat in the past and are hoping to invite other authors into school in the future. We also provide the opportunity for our learners to take part in virtual workshops.
Furthermore, as a school we feel it is important to boost children’s confidence and self-esteem. Therefore, we showcase our best pieces of writing on our WOW Walls and share our writing with parents/carers via Seesaw.
Impact
Evidence through pupil voice, observations and outcomes in books will show that children can articulate and demonstrate their application of knowledge and skills. A review of books will show children’s ability to reflect on personalised feedback received and children’s growing ability to apply metacognitive skills, showing a continuous improvement in all areas of writing. Children will be able to make connections between previous learning and transfer their writing skills to other areas of the curriculum. Teachers and children will be able to confidently discuss the coverage of objectives throughout the year and how these are applied in writing. Effective assessment, moderation and monitoring systems will help inform teaching and learning. Planned collaboration throughout the year will provide support for key areas of the writing process as outlined in Ready Steady Write, following the Immerse, Analyse, Plan and Write process. Regular review and support for the effective delivery of interventions will help raise standards for all children.
Follow the links below for Home Learning activities/games:
Sentence Doctor- Can you diagnose the problem with the sentence?
Dropping In- Learn to write sentences with embedded clauses
Definitions- These simple animated deinitions should help with the technical terms used when writing
Sentence Magic- Learn different ways to improve your sentences
