Writing

Intent

Our overarching aim for English is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. We want children to:

• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for writing
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language, style and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences 

Implementation

Oracy is at the heart of our curriculum and beginning with developing a love of reading, learning how to write is given high priority at our school.

'Talk for Writing' is used as the basis of our approach to writing. It is powerful and links directly to the principle of how children learn. Modelling, sharing, discussing, planning and editing are all tools for learning that the process uses.

The 'Talk for Writing' approach enables children to read and write independently, for a variety of audiences and purposes within different subjects.

We teach children to internalise the language structures needed to write through 'talking the text', as well as close reading. The approach moves from dependence towards independence, with the teacher using shared and guided teaching to develop children's ability to write creatively and powerfully.

We underpin this work by establishing a core reading spine of quality fiction, poetry and non-fiction that all children experience and draw upon.

The key phases of the process are:

• A cold task. Children have a writing stimulus and complete a piece of work, without support, to enable teachers to plan the next steps in their learning.
• Imitation. Children learn a text off by heart. They learn about the key features of the text including the language used, punctuation, organisation and meaning. Children also learn about grammatical structures, vocabulary and sentence construction.
• Innovation. The children use what they have learnt to create their own pieces of writing. These use the structures that they know and sometimes 'hug' closely to the texts learnt. Toolkits are used to guide children in using the key features of that text and to support the editing process.
• Independent application. Children develop their own pieces of writing using the skills learnt and their own ideas. This 'hot task' enables children to see the progress that they have made. There is real sense of pride in being able to compare hot and cold tasks.

Through this process children gaining a deep understanding of texts and their features children are able to use and apply their knowledge in their own writing.

We use the RWI phonics scheme and Nelson handwriting  to support this approach.

Impact

Writers who:

• can effectively  and confidently express themselves in writing
• enjoy writing
• write with care and with the reader in mind
• use these skills in all areas of learning