English Writing

At Bulford St Leonard’s our aim is to provide high quality writing instruction to ensure every child develops a strong command of the spoken and written word.

Intent: We aim to…

Use high quality texts and models to enable pupils to accurately choose grammar, vocabulary and punctuation which is effective for both audience and purpose.

Make the planning, drafting, writing and editing stages of writing explicit so that children experience ‘live’ the choices a writer makes.

Provide children with the Ideas, tools and techniques for writing so that they can communicate their own ideas.

Make connections where relevant between writing units and non- core subjects to enrich and layer learning.

Ensure that pupils are taught a range of genres across the school which means they can communicate their learning appropriately.

Develop a consistent approach to teaching writing to close gaps and ensure that all children leave in year 6 being able to write effectively.

Implementation: How do we achieve our aims?

Transcription: Handwriting and Spelling

Handwriting: From EYFS pupils are taught how to hold a pencil and to use the Little Wandle letter formation to be able to print words. All classes use LetterJoin: explicit teaching of letter formations and joins are explicitly taught, modelled and practiced at the start of sentence stacking lessons.

Spelling: Once the Little Wandle programme has been completed, Year 2 pupils then transition onto the Little Wandle spelling programme, developing application of phonics and exploring spelling rules.

In KS2 the Literacy Shed programme is used as an effective and fully comprehensive approach that targets reading patterns of spelling, the etymology and morphology of words and develops pupils’ spelling knowledge progressively.

Punctuation and Grammar

Pupils are taught punctuation and grammar explicitly in discrete lessons, in line with progression documents. This knowledge is then consolidated and revised during

application in writing lessons, where the purpose and effect can be seen and explored in context of a piece of writing.

Learning to Write

In EYFS and KS1, we use engage pupils with stories, giving them the motivation to write,

EYFS

Continuous provision activities and diverse opportunities for mark-making enhance pupils’ fine motor skills for writing. Teacher-led sessions support letter formation and phonics-based spelling. Drawing Club is used to motivate pupils to write, with stories that enrich vocabulary. Over the year, pupils develop the ability to write letters, words, phrases, and sentences readable by others, preparing them for KS1.

KS1

Pupils engage with stimulus texts to inspire writing, while grammar and punctuation are taught separately and reinforced in practice. Discussions, teacher modelling, and scaffolds support sentence construction. In Year 1, pupils sequence sentences and apply phonics to spelling. By Year 2, they write narratives, recounts, non-fiction, and poems, and are introduced to some of the Writing Ranbow. By the end of KS1, they have developed vocabulary, sentence structures, and punctuation, preparing them for KS2 writing.

KS2

As pupils move into KS2, we focus on the ideas for writing, understanding how to use grammatical constructs to turn these ideas into meaning, and bringing this meaning to life through authorial language choice are essential in enabling children to communicate effectively. We ensure children are immersed in a flourishing environment that values speaking, listening and the development of language as a vital part of the writing process. We use Jane Considine’s The Write Stuff methodology to ensure pupils are explicitly taught the craft of writing.

High-quality texts are used as stimulus or models. Teachers use the Write Stuff methodology to sequence lessons, including experience days to generate ideas and vocabulary, and sentence stacking lessons, to explicitly teach the crafting of writing. Each sentence stacking lesson is based around another ‘plot point’ for narrative, or part of the ‘shape’ for non-fiction genres

Sentences are taught under the structural framework of The Writing Rainbow, using lenses of writing tools which pupils practice and can choose for their own writing.

Lesson structure:

Initiate: Discussion of the next plot point and ‘chotting’ – pupils chat and jot words they want to use in their exercise books/whiteboards

Modelling: the teacher models writing, explicitly explaining choices of words etc, using lenses from the Writing Rainbow, using vocabulary from the initiate stage, and drawing attention to grammatical focuses.

Enable: Pupils write their own sentences for the plot point. The children have their ‘chottings’ to support their word choices.

Writing Independently:

Pupils apply their learning from sentence stacking lessons to a new task based around the text/genre. They plan, using lenses from the writing rainbow and write independently, using the vocabulary they have gathered, and examples of sentences structures and generic features they have learnt. Pupils in KS1 use oral rehearsal as part of their planning. Pupils are given the opportunity to practice writing in a range of styles and genres.

Support and Challenge:

The use of writing walls in the classroom for sentence stacking lessons, the structured explicit nature of those lessons, and the writing rainbow supports all writers. Everyone is encouraged to ‘deepen the moment’, and to extend detail or make independent choices in the sentence stacking lessons and in independent work, using their knowledge of the writing rainbow.

Editing:

Pupils are encouraged to reread and edit their work during both sentence stacking lessons and in their independent writing. The final part of the writing process looks at revision of what has been crafted.

Pupils have to check their work and make decisions about what needs to be revised, rewritten or reimagined.

Choice of text:

The fiction books used as stimulus for writing is sometimes the guided reading book. For non-fiction pieces, a range of appropriate models are used.

Cross curricular opportunities:

By the end of KS2, most genres of writing are familiar to pupils and teaching can focus on creativity, writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills when writing in other areas of the curriculum.

Impact: how will we know we have achieved our intent?

· Pupils can write effectively to engage with the reader and apply their learning from exposure to a range of high-quality models.

· Pupils are accurate and creative writers who have increasing stamina for writing.

· Children can draw on a range of Ideas, tools and techniques for writing so that they are able to communicate their own ideas AND apply these in reading.

· Pupils are encouraged to articulate their knowledge in other subject areas through the accurate application of writing skills.

· Pupils can confidently write using the features, vocabulary and structure of each genre.

· Pupils achieve the age-related expectations for writing, and those that find writing challenging are given focused support to help them catch up.

Click here to see our Writing Subject Overview