Writing
Intent
At North Duffield Community Primary School, we want all children to enjoy becoming writers. The writing curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children. It provides opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident and successful writers, with high aspirations, who know how to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society.
Our intent is for all pupils – irrespective of their needs, abilities, or background – to learn to write fluently, developing their own writer’s voice. We aim to meet, and where possible exceed, the expectations laid out in the Early Learning Goals and National Curriculum, with pupils progressing appropriately across school. We recognise that spoken language underpins the development of writing. The quality of language that pupils hear and speak is vital for developing their vocabulary and grammar and their understanding of Writing. We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. We believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high-quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.
We intend to cultivate a love of Writing and communicating through vocabulary-rich and high-quality literature, using Ready Steady Write by Literacy Counts. By inspiring and developing an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and providing meaningful and exciting provocations to write, we develop a habit of writing widely and often. We recognise the importance of nurturing 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.
Implementation
Our English curriculum is developed around a sequence of high-quality age-appropriate texts, using Literacy Count’s Ready Steady Write units of learning. We use each book to create opportunities to:
• develop grammar and punctuation knowledge and understanding to use and apply across the wider curriculum, through sentence accuracy sessions.
• explore the writing structure and features of different genres, identifying the purpose and audience.
• plan and write an initial piece of Writing with a clear context and purpose before evaluating the effectiveness of Writing by editing and redrafting.
Building on this foundation, we teach literacy using a range of strategies which include:
• group discussion – children discuss and interrogate new ideas in a small group or whole class setting. They listen to and value each other’s ideas whilst taking onboard feedback to improve their explanations.
• partner talk – children work with partners to discuss their ideas. They can explain their ideas about texts they have read and prepare their ideas before they write.
• questioning – Teachers use a range of questioning strategies to establish children’s current understanding and develop their learning.
• modelled writing – Teachers model writing and editing to demonstrate the high expectations they have. They verbally ‘think aloud’ to make the Writing process explicit and provide a rich and varied vocabulary for the children to utilise in their work. This happens daily, through sentence accuracy
• shared writing – Teachers use the ideas from the children to create shared pieces of writing. This enables the children to see the Writing process in action as well as have pride and ownership over the finished piece.
• editing – All children are signposted to regular opportunities for reviewing and editing their own and the work of others.
• working walls – Teachers and children regularly update working walls to ensure learning is documented within a unit of work. Class teachers ensure that the writing process is evident on working walls, with modelled examples being available to all pupils as the sequence of lessons develops.
In addition to Ready Steady Write, we believe it is paramount that children are rigorously taught correct letter formation from the very beginning of their time in school. During the foundation stage and KS1 at North Duffield Primary School, the children are taught to sit properly in order to have the correct posture for writing, hold a pencil in the correct position and develop a legible handwriting style using ‘Rainbow Writing’ and transitioning to cursive in Year 1; or when appropriate for the child’s level of development.
Impact
Every child will leave North Duffield richer in language and have the ability to apply their knowledge within their writing. Each child will be wiser in their knowledge and understanding of the world, and its diversity, and be able to make clear links to explain and demonstrate their understanding. Children’s understanding and empathy of others will stand out; they will be collaborative and have a very clear understanding of what constitutes a healthy relationship, as well as fostering a love of writing.
The innovative practice across the school provides a strong foundation and opportunities for children to collaborate and develop social skills both indoors and out. This curriculum design ensures that the needs of individual and small groups of children can be met within the environment of quality first teaching, supported by targeted, proven interventions where appropriate. In this way, it can be seen to impact in a very positive way on children’s outcomes. Developing their independence and motivation as learners and their sense of responsibility as future citizens is at the heart of all our teaching and learning.
As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. They are confident to take risks in their writing and love to discuss and share their ideas.
- Class 1 Novels Rationale.docx
- Class 2 Novels Rationale.docx
- Class 3 Novels Rationale.docx
- Class 4 Novels Rationale.docx
- Class 5 Novels rationale.docx