Writing

Our writing curriculum follows a well sequenced structure, aligned to the National Curriculum, to enable all pupils to become successful writers.

We use carefully selected texts across each year group to cover fiction, non-fiction and poetry genres, exploring our rich and diverse literary heritage and giving pupils the opportunity to write in different styles for a variety of audiences. These texts are recorded in our Long-Term Curriculum Plans for each year group. Expert Resource plans, including Jane Considine, Write Stuff, CLPE and Talk for Writing, provide a sequence of lessons based on each text.

Film and animation are also used as a stimulus for writing and crafting narratives from the images seen. Pupils are also taught how to plan, revise and edit their writing with increasing confidence, leading to real independence.

Writing is complex and draws on many skills including:

Writing down ideas fluently, known as effective transcription
Spelling quickly and accurately
Knowing the relationship between sounds and letters (phonics)
Understanding the morphology (word structure) and orthography (spelling structure) of words.

Writing board 2

Effective composition involves articulating and communicating ideas, and then organising them coherently for a reader. This requires clarity, awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. Writing also depends on fluent, legible and, eventually, speedy handwriting (National Curriculum in England).

Throughout each year group, we provide opportunities for pupils to revisit all these skills in order to develop and hone them.

Our aim is that all pupils become confident writers, in English lessons and in other curriculum areas, with the knowledge and skills required to build secure foundations as they transition from each year group and Key Stage.