Writing

At Ss Peter and Paul’s we recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children enjoy writing and take pride in it. They can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of purposes. We believe in using the power of stories and rich model texts to inspire writing. At Ss Peter and Paul’s, we have carefully chosen a breath of high quality model texts that engage children. A range of both fiction and non-fiction texts are used throughout each year to ensure progression. We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base within writing, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum, which enables children to make links with the wider curriculum. Our children enjoy being fully immersed in their learning and are keen to become expert writers.

We believe that a secure basis in writing skills is crucial to a high-quality education and this will give our children the tools they need to be ready for the next stage of their education.

Intent

At Ss Peter and Paul’s we believe that all pupils should be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing. We want pupils to acquire a wide vocabulary, a solid understanding of grammar and be able to spell new words by effectively applying the spelling patterns and rules they learn throughout their time in primary school. We want them to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.

We believe that all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, in part by developing a good, joined, handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school. We believe that all good writers refine and edit their writing over time, so we want children to develop independence in being able to identify their own areas for improvement in all pieces of writing, editing their work effectively during and after the writing process. We do not put ceilings on what pupils can achieve in writing and we do not hold pre-conceptions about any pupils’ ability to make progress.

We understand the importance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both grammar, spelling and composition skills, and so we want to encourage a home-school partnership which enables parents and carers to understand how to enhance the skills being taught in school.

No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.

Implementation

Classroom organisation

We teach English as whole class lessons, so that all children have access to the age-related skills and knowledge contained in the National Curriculum. Within lessons, teachers and teaching assistants target support for slower graspers to enable them to achieve at an age-related level wherever possible. This may involve a greater level of scaffolding and access to additional support materials such as Writers Toolkits, Word Banks or a greater level of modelling.

Rapid graspers are given opportunities to extend their writing in a variety of ways, including through showing greater control in their writing, a deeper understanding of the impact that their writing has on the reader and by using a higher level of vocabulary and grammar features.

• Spelling: spellings are taught according to the rules and words contained in Appendix 1 of the English National Curriculum.  Spellings are taught daily as part of English lessons using the Twinkl Spelling Scheme to support teaching and to provide activities that link to the weekly spellings. Children are not given spellings to learn each week they learn in class and are tested regularly.
• Grammar and Punctuation: gammar and punctuation knowledge and skills are taught through English lessons as well as stand alone sessions. Teachers plan to teach the required skills through the genres of writing that they are teaching, linking it to the genre to make it more connected with the intended writing outcome.
• Phonics: in Reception and until Key Stage 1 children have passed their phonics screening, daily phonics sessions take place mainly in streamed groupings. This helps to support writing in the classroom.
• Intervention and Support: additional support is available for children who require it through Read, Write, Inc. All children have Lexia logins and will use this to support writing.
• English Lesson Sequence: writing is linked to the 'Talk for Writing' programme where writing is based on model texts. Children study the text and then write in a range of styles following examples and teacher modelling.

Impact

Pupils will make good progress from their own personal starting points. By the end of Year Six they will be able to write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. Our pupils will acquire a wide vocabulary and have a strong command of the written word. Pupils will leave primary school being able to effectively apply spelling rules and patterns they have been taught.

The % of pupils working at ARE and Greater depth within each year group will be at least in line with national averages. There will be no significant gaps in the progress of different groups of pupils (e.g. disadvantaged vs non-disadvantaged).

Most importantly, the pupils will develop a love of writing and be well equipped for the rest of their education.

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