Writing
Purpose of study
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. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.
To go directly to the National Curriculum for English, please click on the attached link: National curriculum in England: English programmes of study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Our Writing Lead is:
Mrs Angie Ricketts
Intent
At Upton St James (USJ), we believe that speaking, listening, reading and writing are fundamental life skills, which enable children to communicate effectively in all areas of the curriculum and equips them for the challenges they will face in the wider world. Our English curriculum is based upon a language rich experience for pupils combining opportunities to speak, listen, read and write for a variety of purposes, audiences and forms. We aim to ‘Rise to our best’ so that every child leaves us with the skills of an excellent writer. Our writing curriculum is based upon the selection of high quality, engaging texts, that provide rich models of language across a wide range of genres, with a focus on exploring models and using these to guide the drafting and editing process.
We aim that:
• Children develop writing from high quality text models and worked examples.
• Children write for a purpose and their writing is engaging; they think about the impact they want their writing to have on the reader and know how they will achieve this.
• Children develop proficiency in writing in a range of genres, have a sophisticated bank of vocabulary, and an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description.
• Opportunities for writing purposefully are developed through other areas of the curriculum and beyond the school.
• Children develop writing stamina.
• Children are motivated to re-read, edit and improve their writing so every piece of writing they produce is to the best of their ability and better than the last.
• Children display excellent transcription skills that ensure their writing is well presented, punctuated and spelt correctly.
Implementation
We ensure that children develop a love of writing and the skills needed to be an effective writer:
• High-quality texts are used as models for children’s own writing following the Babcock BookWrite scheme.
• Teachers ensure that short and long writing opportunities are regularly provided in a range of curriculum subjects.
• Modelled, shared, guided and independent writing are frequently used by teachers.
• Children are provided with clear expectations and outcomes when writing.
• Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar and Phonics are taught explicitly and applied to their text.
• Teachers use a four-stage model when teaching writing:
• Familiarisation
• Practising writing
• Independent writing
• Proof-reading/ editing
Impact
The impact of our writing curriculum and carefully planned, well taught lessons with appropriate and ongoing feedback for each child can be seen in the progress that children make within each writing sequence. As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic writers who enjoy showcasing their developing writing skills. The scripture 'Love your neighbour as yourself' (Mark 12 v30-31) is evidenced through the fact that children love to discuss and share their ideas, regularly self and peer evaluating so that they can become more confident about improving and taking risks in their writing.
| Subject Documents |
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| Curriculum Progression Framework Writing |