Writing
The English national curriculum (2014) states that: ‘The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.’
Curriculum Intent
We believe the exposure of children’s literature within the primary school setting is vital as a rich context for learning; not only within English as a subject but to support building a reading culture throughout the school. We aim to use high quality books that offer opportunities for questions and enquiry, where children see their cultures, families and relationships reflected, as a means of developing the spoken language requirements through debate, drama and discussion using the issues raised through, and within, the text. We ensure pupils write for a range of purposes with a focus on spelling, grammar and punctuation.
We understand that writing is a complex process and acknowledge that pre-writing, drafting, editing, revising and sharing are strategies that are likely to help pupils. This is part of our lesson structures.
Our curriculum is designed to produce enthusiastic, confident and expressive writers. We equip our pupils with an understanding of grammar, sentence structure, spelling and punctuation that they can apply to a wide range of writing tasks in both their further education and everyday life. We seek to provide all of our pupils, not just some, with the confidence to express themselves through writing. We teach the skills and knowledge needed to become a successful writer e.g. sentence structure, grammar, spelling patterns, letter formation, texts types, audience awareness, planning and editing. Alongside this, staff demonstrate a passion for writing, expose children to high quality texts, develop their spoken language and provide inspiring experiences to ignite children’s imagination and encourage a life-long appreciation and enjoyment of English in its many written forms. Specifically we enable children to develop:
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the ability to use the English language clearly and confidently across a range of writing genres;
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the ability to communicate effectively in written word;
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a developed vocabulary acquired through discussions, reading and writing;
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an understanding of how to use planning, drafting and editing skills to produce effective pieces of writing about real and fictional events;
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the knowledge and skills to facilitate an accurate use of grammar and punctuation in context;
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the ability to use etymology, morphology, phonics knowledge and spelling patterns to support spelling;
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the ability to present work neatly and work towards writing with a legible cursive handwriting style;
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the confidence to problem solve, using the skills developed in English;
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the ability to independently apply English skills in other subjects of the curriculum and in wider life.
Curriculum Implementation
Children have daily opportunities to write across all areas of the curriculum. This starts with mark making in Reception to sustained pieces of writing in Year 6.
Our writing curriculum incorporates challenging and quality texts as a stimulus, which can be accessed by all. Thus giving opportunities for depth and inclusion. Children then experience link texts to further embed their knowledge of a concept or theme and questions are structured to include all children in discussions. There is also a big focus on the vocabulary used in the texts, so children can explore, understand and use these words to enhance writing but also improve reading. Children are given opportunities and so challenging texts are embraced and not feared.
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Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation lessons are integrated into each writing unit, supplying the pupils with the knowledge required to transcribe their ideas fluently and effectively in a manner appropriate to the genre in which they are writing.
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Editing skills are taught so pupils are trained to develop the ability to edit their own and others’ writing, improving each piece’s compositional elements and afterwards proof reading to ensure accuracy of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
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Children get the opportunity to share their work
Curriculum Impact
Children are confident writers who can make links between reading and the written work they produce. They use a range of vocabulary to enhance their work and teachers encourage all children to edit and improve their writing. Children enjoy writing and can enthusiastically discuss their work.
