Writing

Writing Intent

At Reydon, we aim to create a positive reading and writing culture, where both are promoted and enjoyed by our pupils. At the heart of our approach is our mission to foster a love of reading as we recognise the impact of a high-quality literacy education on the lifelong opportunities afforded to our pupils.

To achieve our ultimate curriculum end goals, the knowledge and skills in English are progressive, as set out in the National Curriculum. We strive for our pupils to develop a strong and creative use of language and the written word through a text-based approach. We aim for our pupils to acquire a wide vocabulary, a firm understanding of grammar and be able to spell new words by applying the spelling patterns and rules that they learn throughout their time at Reydon. We want to instill confidence in the art of speaking and listening so that our pupils use discussion to communicate their thoughts, opinions and feelings to others and to further their learning as they move on to secondary education and beyond.

 Implementation

The National Curriculum forms the basis on which our Writing Curriculum has been built. At Reydon, we believe that writing is strengthened by instilling a love of reading in our pupils. Writing lessons are planned around high-quality texts. Through our text-based approach, we ensure that we meet the national curriculum expectations and the learning is relevant and meaningful. All pupils are given opportunities to develop confidence and apply their written and oracy skills within our English writing lessons. Our curriculum offer is strengthened by texts that align with our wider themes. Building opportunities for our pupils in this way allows them to transfer knowledge of genre and text types across subjects, enabling them to make links and to integrate their knowledge of spelling, concepts and themes whilst also planning and honing their craft as writers across the curriculum. Within our text-based approach, texts are used as a model for writing. A whole school overview, maps the texts that are used throughout the year, from Reception through to Year 6 and indicates unit outcomes and how poetry, fiction and non-fiction are woven through our curriculum offer. Our writing and reading progression maps also ensure that our quality-first teaching is progressive.

At Reydon we have adopted the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme as a means to teach phonics and early writing. We teach letter formation using our formation phrases, which make a link between the mnemonic and the letter. As per the Department for Education guidance, we do not teach cursive writing in Reception.

1. Little Wandle Spelling is a new spelling programme designed to provide a seamless link from the main Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme to learning spelling in Year 2. This aims to build on children’s knowledge of the alphabetic code and teaches them to spell with confidence. The three part model includes:

• Phase 5 review
• Bridge to spelling
• Spelling. After a five-week review of Phase 5, children move on to the Bridge to spelling which teaches them how to ‘think about spelling’. Over five weeks, the children complete the alphabetic code and learn the underpinning concepts of spelling. Once this learning is secure, children are ready to move on to the Year 2 Spelling units which provide full coverage of National Curriculum spelling requirements at Year 2.

Through KS2, teachers use the Pixl spelling tracker to plan and assess spellings weekly and spelling rules and pattens are routinely revisited within the termly assessments. Word lists which contain the statutory spellings and those that are commonly misspelled are available to the pupils, with clues and strategies forming part of the planning for the teaching of spelling.

At Reydon, we have adopted "The Write Stuff" by Jane Considine to bring clarity to the mechanics of writing.  "The Write Stuff" approach follows a method called "Sentence Stacking" which refers to the fact that sentences are stacked together chronologically and are organised to engage children with short, intensive moments of learning that they can then immediately apply to their own writing. 

An individual lesson is based on a sentence model, broken in to three learning chunks. Each learning chunk has three sections:

1. Initiate section – a stimulus to capture the children’s imagination and set up a sentence.
2. Model section – the teacher close models a sentence that outlines clear writing features and techniques.
3. Enable section – the children write their sentence, following the model.

Children are challenged to ‘Deepen the Moment’ which requires them to independently draw upon previously learnt skills and apply them to their writing. Pupils are routinely monitoring their sentences during this structured approach to writing and reflect on the overall shape of the text, whether the focus is poetry, non-fiction or fiction as they develop writing skills and apply these independently.  

"The Write Stuff" uses three essential components to support children in becoming great writers.

The three zones of writing :-

• IDEAS - The FANTASTICs uses a child friendly acronym to represent the nine idea lenses through which children can craft their ideas.
• TOOLS - The GRAMMARISTICS. The grammar rules of our language system and an accessible way to target weaknesses in pupils grammatical and linguistic structures.
• TECHNIQUES - The BOOMTASTICs which helps children capture ten ways of adding drama and poetic devices to writing in a vivid visual.

We enable our pupils to be reflective learners across the curriculum and to take pride in their learning and to have the resilience to reflect on their work. Handwriting and presentation across the curriculum are an area we are committed to. We create a positive writing culture within our school by valuing our pupils' written outcomes within the classroom and across the school through working walls, displays showcasing pupils’ written work, and efforts are shared within assemblies.

Assessment and Monitoring:

Formative assessment is ongoing throughout every lesson to inform planning, lesson activities, targeted pupil support and to enable appropriate challenge to all pupils. Teachers provide verbal feedback at the point of writing so that children can make meaningful edits during the writing process. As part of the lesson, pupils may share their ideas and written work with peers for feedback. Teacher feedback and next steps personalise learning and provide the pupils with opportunities to edit and improve their own writing. Each unit’s independent write outcomes support subsequent teacher planning and data analysis informs planning for further grammar, punctuation and spelling opportunities at a whole class or small group level. The subject leader monitors the learning through book looks, lesson observations, pupil voice and develops teaching and learning through delivering CPD to all staff. Together with partnership schools, monitoring and observations take place alongside the sharing of good practice.

Impact

Evidence of achievement will be reflected in results from national tests. Whilst academic achievement will be measured through end of year or key stage data, pupils at Reydon will transition to secondary education with a range of transferable skills which will allow them to be lifelong learners.

As the children develop and progress from EYFS to Year 6, evidence of progress will be seen through their confidence and approach to learning, as well as in their books and through their outcomes regardless of their ability. Sequential learning, as outlined in our progression documents, will establish progress for all children.

Pupil Voice

Pupils can talk about their writing with more enthusiasm and they comment positively on the high-quality texts used to inform their own writing and wider learning. They are becoming more confident writers who are honing their craft across units and they are beginning to recognise how genres of writing are applied to the wider curriculum.

Evidence in Knowledge

The pupils can make links between reading and writing. They demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of writing and their intended audience and know how to make an impact on the reader. Wider curriculum themes or concepts provide opportunities for pupils to further deepen their knowledge.

Evidence in Skills

Pupils can apply skills from reading to writing, and across a range of genres and subjects. Vocabulary choice is precise, the writing rainbow toolkit is independently applied and the pupils demonstrate progress in the mechanics of cross curricular writing; this shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and vocabulary.

Evidence outside of the curriculum

Children are encouraged to write for pleasure as part of our home learning challenges. Through creative writing competitions linked to broader themes such as Black History and the 500 word short story competition, pupils at Reydon have demonstrated writing for further enjoyment. Some pupils have had their work published and this was most recently celebrated in Year 4.

EYFS

By the end of EYFS, pupils will use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. The foundations for letter formation and good handwriting will be established and they will have had the opportunity to develop their fine motor skills, forming most letters accurately and consistently. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

Key Stage 1

By the end of KS1, pupils are formally tested and for writing this includes teacher assessment. Teachers track pupils' progress throughout the year and address misconceptions whenever necessary. By the end of Year 2, pupils have gained a solid foundation in reading and writing on which to build.

Lower Key Stage 2

By the end of Year 4, pupils will have had the opportunity to listen to and discuss a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays and non-fiction texts. They will be able to plan, draft, organise and evaluate their writing whilst using Standard English, and a range of grammar techniques as stated in the National Curriculum.

Upper Key Stage 2

By the end of Year 6, pupils will be able to write fluently, legibly, draft, organise and evaluate their work, considering their audience and making appropriate grammatical and vocabulary choices. When writing, they will show an awareness of the difference between formal and informal language and understand how sentence structure can be varied using the passive voice.  Pupils will be able to confidently use more advanced punctuation and other key grammar features as stated in the National Curriculum.