English: Writing
English: Writing Curriculum Statement
Intent
At Healey Junior, Infant and Nursery School we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. We aim to inspire an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and a habit of reading widely and often.
We recognise the importance of developing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately, and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in speaking and listening and who can use discussion to develop their learning. We believe that a thorough grasp of literacy skills is crucial to a high-quality education and we intend on giving our children the tools they need to participate fully and productively in society.
All children from Foundation Stage to Year 6 are provided with many opportunities to develop and apply their writing skills across the curriculum.
Our intention is for pupils to:
- Develop a love of writing and have pride in their written accomplishments.
- Know how to plan, revise and evaluate their writing effectively.
- Understand that in order for them to develop as fluent writers it is essential that they develop competency in phonics, word/spelling structure and handwriting enabling effective transcription.
- Embed basic skills in order to widen their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. This will allow them to develop their writing so they are able to articulate, communicate and organise their ideas for the audience and purpose. (Becoming authors!).
We also intend for pupils to leave school being able to use fluent, legible and speedy handwriting.
Implementation
The 2014 National Curriculum states that:
‘English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.
We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We use a wide variety of quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. Each day, children take part in Whole Class Reading lessons whereby the teacher carefully selects rich texts to enable discussion, excitement and development of language, which in turn, inspires our children to incorporate language from these texts in their own writing.
A range of genres (both fiction, non-fiction & poetry) are taught throughout Y1-Y6. When introducing a text type, pupils are encouraged to look for and identify specific age appropriate features of the text before engaging in modelled and scaffolded versions of the text type. Pupils will then produce independent writing.
Grammar objectives are taught both within text-based learning and discretely. Any areas of weakness that are identified as a result of independent writing are taught as part of the modelled text, or as grammar starters. Again, teachers are expected to track back to previous years objectives, if this is appropriate.
All teachers ensure to plan stimulating English lessons which incorporate Outdoor Learning, Computing, collaborative learning so that children are excited and enthused in their lessons, leading to a strong motivation to write. It is through our rigorous marking policy that we can give children ‘live’ feedback about their learning in the lesson; which enables children to adjust their learning based on the instant feedback provided by teachers and teaching and learning assistants. At Healey, we believe it is highly important to give children feedback that is rich and meaningful so that they are aware of their triumphs and those areas that they need to be focussing on, as well as providing a platform for teacher and child discussion whereby children feel confident to address misconceptions and raise any thoughts and feelings about their learning.
Early writing is taught through early mark making, then when the children begin Read Write Inc (RWI) phonics they are taught the letter formations. This begins with writing (whether with a writing tool or in the air) cvc words, moving onto short sentences using the sounds they have been taught. The children also learn to remember and write stories using the Talk for Writing approach. They are encouraged to write independently in continuous provision.
This process continues into Year 1, where children are encouraged to use the sounds they have been taught. They have access to RWI sound mats, when they are writing, whether this is with the teacher, in continuous provision or independently.
In EYFS and KS1 we have introduced the RWI spelling programme so that there is continuity from the RWI phonics. Children who have progressed from RWI phonics are then assessed and grouped by ability for spelling. There is an expectation that teachers track back to ensure that any gaps in knowledge are addressed. Pupils in KS2, who have gaps in phonetical knowledge, are assessed and taught spellings through the RWI Fresh Start Intervention.
Spelling throughout KS2 is planned using objectives from the No Nonsense Spelling Programme.
Impact
The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferable skills. With the implementation of the writing journey being well established and taught thoroughly in both key stages, children are becoming more confident writers and by the time they are in upper Key Stage 2, most genres of writing are familiar to them and the teaching can focus on creativity, writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills.
As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing standards have also improved and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects; this shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and grammar objectives. We hope that as children move on from Healey to further their education and learning, that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.
The Writing curriculum is evaluated through 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.
Regular evaluation of writing occurs termly as part of our BBEST moderations and Y6 moderate writing with the BMAT high schools.
Grammar is assessed termly through Spag.com assessments.
English in the Early Years
English is one of the seven aspects to the Early Years Framework, known as Literacy and is fundamental to a child’s successful development of Reading and Writing as they progress throughout the rest of the school.
In Early Years, we promote early Reading and Writing as we believe it underpins their natural curiosity of storytelling and early mark marking. In Nursery and in Reception, we carefully plan for Literacy throughout our continuous provision, enabling mark making and early sound recognition throughout their independent time. Within every area of the classroom we can provide opportunities for children to mark make, for example, in the Construction Area, we provide simple slips of paper for the children to ‘name and label’ their creations so that we know it is theirs.
Throughout our EYFS, we provide fun and exciting reading activities for children including; fishing out sounds from the water tray, squirting different phonemes using water guns as well as taking books into the outdoor areas for children to enjoy while sitting on the grass.
The English Lead Teacher is Miss Charlett.
