Writing in our Curriculum

'Reading is the creative centre of a writer's life. I take a book with me everywhere I go, and find that there are all sorts of opportunities to dip in.' - Steven King

Immersion within a genre of writing, be it fiction or non-fiction, is at the centre of our approach to teaching writing. We endeavour to provide diverse and quality experiences of texts to give children the appropriate tools to produce their own quality writing. Through our teaching, we try to ensure that children have ample opportunities to write creatively and for pleasure, whilst building on the technical features of writing composition, grammar, spelling and handwriting through discrete instruction and dedicated lessons. We also strive to include cross-curricular writing wherever possible. All this goes towards building well-rounded writers, who can write in an appropriate and engaging manner for a range of purposes and audiences.

In addition, children are awarded Handwriting Pens when their writing is consistently joined and legible in all areas of their work.

Intent

At Stokenchurch Primary School and Nursery, we want all children to confidently communicate their thoughts, knowledge, imagination and emotions through their writing to reach their full potential.

We centre our writing around immersion within a genre of writing, be it fiction or non-fiction. We value quality, diverse texts and rich vocabulary to develop the children’s ideas. Through our teaching, we try to ensure that children have ample opportunities to write creatively and for pleasure (across the curriculum) as well as building on technical features of writing composition, grammar, spelling and handwriting. We endeavour to ensure children’s writing is a craft that can be built upon but also make sure children develop their love of writing.

We aim:

• To nurture children’s interest in writing and allow them to reach their potential.
• To give children the skills to become independent writers.
• To gain a wider range of vocabulary, being able to spell and use this in the correct contexts.
• To allow children to be challenged and take risks and to see mistakes as part of their writing journey.
• To be inclusive to all children including those with SEND by providing appropriate scaffolding, support and writing tools to allow them to experience success in their writing.
• To model high quality writing from high quality texts to give children a broad range of genres.

Implementation

Writing is taught 4 times a week with an additional spelling lesson. Each class studies a high-quality text for 3 weeks depending on age and stage, which is also studied during weekly guided reading sessions. At Stokenchurch, we believe reading and writing are inevitably linked, therefore exploring a text in both reading and writing sessions has a profound impact on children’s learning.

The process of our writing is formed from writing specialist Jo Heffer’s strategy (promoted by Pie Corbett) to raise pupils’ writing standards as well as increase enjoyment and motivation. This strategy includes 3 phases of writing.

Phase 1: Reading as a reader where the children have a good knowledge and understanding of the text type, fully immersing themselves in the genre.

Phase 2: Reading as a writer where the children will develop a number of techniques which they will use in their writing.

Phase 3: Writing as a writer where they will have successfully written their own narrative/non-fiction text based on the genre that they have been working on and will include the features they have looked at.

Stokenchurch aims to provide work that is appropriate for all children. Children should be allowed to develop skills and knowledge in relation to their individual ability and educational needs, with appropriate challenges being set. The school ensures all children become the most successful writers they can be.

The needs of all children are met through a range of inclusion strategies including differentiated work, adult support and resources. Children with Support Plans and EHCPs receive additional support during lessons as appropriate.

Impact

The main impact on the children is to expose them to a breadth and depth of genres with a deeper understanding of each. We want to give children the knowledge and skills to write successfully for a range of purposes and audiences and feel more confident in planning, drafting and editing their work. Children will develop their writer’s craft to ensure they experience success every time they write.

Teachers at Stokenchurch use assessment to inform teaching and learning, review progress and let children know their successes and next steps. As a school, quality marking gives detailed feedback to celebrate success, address misconceptions and offer developmental points. At the end of each unit of writing, assessment grids are utilised to highlight areas of development and inform future planning and teaching. Each term, children will produce 4 ‘long’ pieces of writing.