Writing
Our English Curriculum Intent
Through our English curriculum, we aim to promote high standards of communication and literacy, developing the essential and life-long skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Through providing a secure knowledge base in literacy which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum, we aim to equip our children with the tools they need to participate not only in the wider curriculum but also as members of society. We aim to make the learning journey an exciting, enriching and holistic one whereby we weave our English learning with our wider learning journey: discussing, reading and writing about topics that are relevant, challenging and engaging.
Our Writing Curriculum Intent
At St. Peter’s Methodist Primary School, we aim to inspire and motivate children to become confident, capable and enthusiastic writers who will develop a genuine love of writing. Writing is a crucial part of our curriculum. Our genre approach enables children to write for a wide range of purposes by being exposed to high quality model texts and being taught how to apply the appropriate grammar, punctuation and spelling elements to these genres. The children enjoy working collaboratively when exploring the features of writing and they are able to reflect on how vocabulary and sentence structure choices can affect the reader.
Our children follow a writing learning journey which enables them to plan, revise and evaluate their own writing. To be able to do this effectively, pupils will focus on developing effective transcription and effective composition. They will also develop an awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. Furthermore, we want children to make well-informed and considered word choices to produce confident, creative writers who can compose, edit and improve their writing.
In addition, we intend for pupils to leave school being able to use fluent, legible and speedy handwriting.
How is our Writing Curriculum Intent implemented?
English is taught daily, with our writing process involving three distinct phases and is generally delivered over a three week period:
Phase 1: Respond and Immerse. In this phase, we see strong connections with our reading curriculum. The children will explore their class text, in particular focusing on, but not limited to, characters, settings, themes and language. The children will identify the key features of the genre they are writing about. This will also be a time for acting in role, hot seating, discussion and forming ideas to apply to written pieces.
Phase 2: Toolkit Phase. This is the time for the pupils to practise their grammar, punctuation and spelling before they apply it to a final written piece. The key grammar objectives are progressive and build throughout the academic year. Pupils have opportunities to practise these key skills so they are ready for the next phase. Generally, these sessions are differentiated with teachers applying a ‘layers of learning’ approach. At St Peter’s, GPS exercises provided can often be bespoke; however, as pupils become more confident within the curriculum, pupils are encouraged to write shorter written pieces, applying GPS aspects.
Phase 3: Planning Phase. The children formulate a plan for their writing. This is facilitated through differentiated planning sheets, plus the use of a WAGOLL (what a good one looks like) for the children to explore together. The planning sheets are actively modelled by class teachers using the working wall.
Phase 4: Writing Phase. Focusing on a designated genre, the children now have the opportunity to draft their final written piece. All children will have differentiated editing checklists and specific writing mats to support them alongside focused success criteria. As well as these resources, they will have spelling word banks and our Working Walls. We wish to increase the pupils’ independence in and to give them the resources and tools they need to become proficient writers. To end our phases, the students will use verbal and written feedback to edit and improve what they have written. To conclude this writing process, we aim to publish writing and share these pieces with other classes, classmates and parents to really increase the profile of writing across the school.
Spelling:
Spelling strategies commence in Year 2, upon completing of the Little Wandle scheme of learning. For some children, they may receive additional support using this scheme. Initially, pupils in Class 2 follow the Little Wandle spelling strategies. This supports the transition of pupils from the phonics scheme by building on their knowledge of the alphabetic code and teaching them how to spell with confidence. As the children progress into Key Stage 2, they access the Purple Mash scheme of learning – a comprehensive programme fully linked with the National Curriculum (2014). The children explore themed spellings for the week, completing a series of exercises related to their word lists daily. This includes weekly dictation exercises to develop the children’s use of vocabulary within a context. Spellings learning is evidenced daily in Key Stage 2.
Handwriting
In EYFS, children begin their handwriting journey by practising handwriting patterns. We use a sensory approach with children making set patterns, e.g. in sand, flour or using chalk. We begin using gross-motor skills, gradually moving to smaller movements as the children are ready. Following on from this, the children are taught to form the print version of all letters. We teach groups letters in ‘handwriting families’ which is when letters are grouped together according to the natural flow that is needed to form the letter. In Year 1, children will continue to practise the correct letter formation in print style ensuring that they start and finish letters in the right place. They will also practice forming capital letters. In Year 2 (or earlier if necessary), when the children are ready, they can begin to move to the un-joined cursive version of all letters which is using some diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters. As soon as the children can form letters correctly with appropriate diagonal and horizontal strokes, they are taught to write with a joined cursive style which is then practised and refine throughout Key Stage 2. Through regular practice, we aim for legibility, consistency and quality in the handwriting of all children. Children will receive a special ‘pen licence’ at the point at which they are successfully, accurately and consistently joining all letters. This can be revoked at any point if the stand of handwriting deteriorates.
Writing Progression document and genres overview
Glossary of GPS terms
