English Writing

Our writing long term plan is linked to our English long term plan and can be found here

Intent

At St. Matthew’s C.E. Primary, we aim to teach the skills of writing and a love of writing so that our children

Develop enjoyment and pleasure in writing
Have opportunities to write for a range of real purposes and audiences
Understand their context and developing empathy as a writer, e.g. being a reporter when writing a newspaper article, being a character when writing a diary, being a storyteller
Understand the skills and processes that are essential for writing: thinking aloud and re-reading their writing aloud to check their meaning is clear
Develop stamina to produce a quality piece of writing
When spelling, have opportunities to practise using both their phonics knowledge and develop independent spelling strategies
When writing, form their letters correctly and confidently, eventually writing with a joined fluent style
Know and use grammar terminology and punctuation to be able to talk about their writing and how it helps a reader to understand and enjoy what they have written

Implementation

Our teaching objectives cover five key areas:

Composition
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Spelling
Handwriting
Terminology

In Foundation Stage we

Teach children to produce writing that someone else can read and enjoy.
Teach children how to sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly.
Develop children’s fine motor skills.
Teach children how to form their letters correctly, starting and finishing in the right place.
Teach children how to write the capital letters that their name begins with.
Develop a working wall next to our focus group table which exemplifies the learning journey – this is reflected in our environment.
Give children plenty of writing opportunities to support with gathering evidence to feed into assessment judgements - this should be child initiated as well as supported.
Make key vocabulary from our English text a main focus in both reading and writing lessons.
Regularly model to children how to communicate through writing.

In KS1 and KS2 we

Continue to teach previous year groups’ skills and knowledge as well as current year group’s learning so that all primary writing skills and knowledge are fully embedded by the time children leave primary school.
Give children plenty of writing opportunities to support with gathering evidence to feed into assessment judgements.
Make key vocabulary from our literacy text a main focus in both reading and writing lessons.
Model how to write, edit and give them plenty of time to produce a piece of writing.
Teach children in a clear progression through a writing journey, immersing them in the text/genre and teaching them the skills they need to be able to write their final outcome.
Give children time to respond to marking either immediately or at the beginning of the next lesson.
Mark writing so that it supports children’s editing.

Impact

Teachers use assessment as an integral part of the teaching and learning process and link it clearly to the children’s next steps.

Formative assessment grids (statements taken from progression map)
Constructive marking with ‘next steps’ and ‘modelling’ where appropriate. Teachers leave next steps in books when marking to ensure that children know exactly what they need to do next to make progress in their writing and children are encouraged to respond to this in green pen.

The impact on our children is that they have the knowledge and skills to be able to write successfully for a purpose and audience. With the implementation of the writing sequence being established and taught in both key stages, children are becoming more confident writers and have the ability to plan, draft and edit their own work.

By the end of key stage 2, children have developed a writer’s craft, they enjoy sustained writing and can manipulate language, grammar and punctuation to create effect.

As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing is seen as just as important as English writing 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 language, grammar and punctuation.