Writing
Through our writing curriculum, we aim to:
- guide and nurture each individual on their own personal journeys to becoming successful writers, developing their own authorial voice and ability to use language to engage a reader;
- enable pupils to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences;
- provide exciting writing opportunities and experiences that engage and enhance all pupils.
- support pupils in acquiring a wide vocabulary;
- nurture confident spellers who can apply the spelling patterns and rules they learn throughout their time in primary school;
- give all pupils a solid understanding of grammar and an understanding of how to apply it effectively within their writing;
- encourage all pupils to take pride in the presentation of their writing, in part by developing a legible, fully cursive, individual handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school;
- ensure every pupil has a strong knowledge of phonics that will enable them to become fluent writers;
- to plan a progressive curriculum that builds upon previous teaching;
- have high expectations, using assessment for learning to drive children’s progress.
As writers, we would like all children to:
- enjoy writing for different purposes and audiences as a means to effective expression and communication;
- write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences;
- acquire a wide vocabulary to broaden their ability to communicate effectively through different means;
- develop an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language;
- appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage and draw from it when writing themselves.
To achieve this, we will:
- ensure children are immersed in a wide range of quality, engaging literature, providing a range of high-quality texts as models for writing;
- use the contexts of literature to develop language and grammatical skills;
- directly teach a range of higher-level vocabulary to enrich each child’s understanding and ability to communicate;
- ensure children are taught explicitly the spelling and handwriting they need to be able to transcribe the ideas they wish to articulate.
EYFS
In EYFS, children experience mark making and writing through drawing club where they learn about texts and are given meaningful contexts in which to begin their journey to becoming confident writers.
KS1 and KS2:
Children continue to be exposed to high quality texts that are used as a model for writing. Teachers plan to scaffold writing through three phases:
Imitate: learning about the text through immersion activities such as drama, short burst writes and creative activities such as art. Children in KS1 and 2 continue to learn texts off by heart through text mapping to ensure that they internalise the language.
Learning from the text by unpicking and practicing sentence structures, grammar and punctuation, vocabulary and 'author devices' to create effects.
Innovate: Teachers and children work together to create a text using the key learning taken from the model text. Teachers use modelled writing to demonstrate how to write effectively and create a second 'model text'.
Invent or 'hot write': Children will then have the opportunity to apply the knowledge that they have learnt over the teaching sequence in their own text.
Each teaching sequence starts with a cold write which allows teachers to assess what the children need to learn. The teaching sequence that follows works to address the identified gaps, ensuring children make strong progress.
Handwriting
It is paramount that children are rigorously taught correct letter formation from the very beginning of their time in school.
In reception, children are taught to form letters through phonic sessions. In year 1, when they are ready, children are encouraged to 'sweep in' and 'sweep out', preparing them for the movements for joining letters. All children in KS1 and KS2 who are ready for 'sweep in, sweep out' have tramlined literacy books to support them in keeping their letters of a consistent size.