Writing
“You can make anything by writing” CS Lewis
What will children learn?
At Radwinter, we intend our children to have developed a love of writing and to be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through the written word. We believe that every child has the right and the ability to succeed in English and to be taught the key skills needed to effectively and confidently succeed.
Our approach to writing ensures progression of skills across the school. We provide meaningful experiences and anchor our learning using quality texts to inspire children to write through exciting shared experiences
Our ambitious writing curriculum ensures pupils build upon prior knowledge and re-visit key skills to master writing and develop their ideas.
Our ambitious Writing Curriculum enables pupils to:
· develop and express a rich and deep understanding of the wider world.
· explore and respond to moral, religious, ethical and social questions.
· make important links between subjects, to deepen and explore their understanding of other curriculum areas.
How will children be taught?
Our writing curriculum is designed to be a cohesive and well-sequenced curriculum that ensures:
- breadth and depth achieved through well-sequenced, cumulative units which incorporate revisiting of learning.
- pupils understand the purpose for writing and develop conceptual fluency: an ability to write to a high standard across the curriculum.
- Regular checks on the correct writing process being taught, along with the quality of writing in English and curriculum books is evaluated by learning walks, drop ins, pupil conferencing and work scrutinies.
Our writing curriculum is designed to be a cohesive and well-sequenced curriculum that ensures:
- breadth and depth achieved through well-sequenced, cumulative units which incorporate revisiting of learning.
- pupils understand the purpose for writing and develop conceptual fluency: an ability to write to a high standard across the curriculum.
- direct explicit teaching of skills and isolated writing encounters to ‘hone’ particular skills.
- extended writing sequences to embed and practice;
- prior learning revisited.
- direct and explicit teaching of vocabulary.
- high quality and ambitious texts to model and exemplify conventions and grammatical structures.
- children develop a love of writing and be keen to write, using a range of vocabulary, take care in their presentation and enjoy sharing their writing in a range of contexts.
Spellings
Spellings are taught according to the rules and words contained in Appendix 1 of the English National Curriculum. Teachers use the No-nonsense Spelling to support their teaching and to provide activities that link to the weekly spellings.
Grammar and Punctuation
Grammar and punctuation knowledge and skills are taught through English lessons as much as possible. Children are explicitly taught the conventions and grammatical structures of writing and develop confidence in using these in extended piece. Teachers also focus on particular grammar and punctuation skills as stand-alone lessons.
Handwriting
In EYFS and KS1 we use Little Wandle Phonics letter formation to teach handwriting. Reception and Year 1, children are taught printed letter formation which is a wonderful starting point for them as they move to a cursive style in Year 2 .In Year 2 and KS2, we use Nelson for our handwriting scheme. Handwriting is taught explicitly in lessons and in context when the teacher models correct letter formation.
Assessment
Teachers will use teacher assessment to determine whether a child is working within age-related expectations, above or below. They will base their judgements on the quality of the independent write that pupils produce at the end of each unit. Assessments are moderated internally as well as with other local schools.
Summative assessment occurs using testbase. These are carried out 3 times a year, unless the teacher wishes to moderate with the English lead more frequently. The analysis of this used to identify areas of development and any children who are not making expected progress.
The Early Years Foundation Stage follows the Statutory Framework for the EYFS, using the New Development Matters statements to inform planning and next steps.
At the end of EYFS stage, children in reception class are assessed against the Early Learning Goals for writing. Throughout their time in EYFS we aim to promote a love of reading, embed early phonics learning, develop gross and fine motor and immerse children in a language rich environment with ample opportunities for mark making and writing. Children are encouraged to write daily as part of their ‘Little Wandle’ phonics lessons and through meaningful writing opportunities. Detailed information can be found on the Reading and Phonics curriculum page.
What will the outcomes for children be?
Impact of our writing and SPAG curriculum will be measured by:
• Summative assessment grammatical knowledge and spelling using Testbase.
• Teacher assessment of writing using independently written pieces to provide evidence of national curriculum skills and understanding.
• Termly moderation of writing between year groups/phases and externally, providing robust judgements.
• Monitoring of progress from year to year and key stage ensuring pupils remain ‘on track’ from their starting points.
• Termly monitoring of books show clear evidence of the use of vocabulary, spelling, grammatical understanding, punctuation understanding and text type knowledge.
• Regular training for staff to ensure strong subject knowledge.
If you would like further information on the curriculum we teach, please contact the school directly.