Writing

Intent

Learning within our writing curriculum creates capable, independent writers who not only understand the purpose and importance of writing within wider society but also positively engage in the process. We intend them to leave our school with all of the writerly skills necessary to thrive within Key Stage 3 and beyond. We intend for our children to be able to communicate and express themselves effectively through the written word across both fiction and non-fiction; including being able to write for a range of purposes and audiences. We intend for our curriculum to cultivate an enhanced sense of autonomy and authorship whilst also being inclusive and enriching.

We intend for our children to take risks when writing; seeking to be original and creative as well as critical and reflective. We want our children to draw upon a rich exposure to quality literature so that throughout the writing process they can write as a reader and read as a writer, thus acquiring more ideas to manipulate and apply.

Throughout their time at WPPSF, we intend our children to be exposed to an ambitious and enjoyable curriculum which covers a range of: plot patterns, text types, composition foci and genres for them to not only grow as writers but also develop culturally, emotionally, socially and spiritually.   

Implementation

At WPPSF we achieve this by:

• Teaching transcription skills through: Kinetic Letters Handwriting; phonics and spelling using the Little Wandle scheme (Key Stage 1) and Spelling Shed (Key Stage 2).
• Using a Talk 4 Writing approach which encompasses a range of composition strategies designed to enable children to become confident, independent and creative writers.
• Keeping oracy and reading at the heart of the teaching of writing in order to provide strong models for composition and cohesion.
• Teaching writing through three main stages: Imitation, Innovation and Independent Application – which moves children from dependence to independence. 

• Progressively strengthening each child’s competency so that their ability to structure, compose and innovate will become more sophisticated and complex over time.
• Use of toolkits for composition and grammar which are progressive and ensure that composition is taught to meet Age Related Expectations.
• Regular moderation of writing standards against the Teacher Assessment Framework (TAF) statements, allowing teachers to identify and address gaps in learning.
• Having a rolling two year programme for mixed year classes. 
• Celebrating effort, progress and achievement in writing through displays, opportunities to publish and share work, and external visitors such as authors and writing workshops.

Impact

By the end of their time with us, pupils have learned, improved and embedded a range of writerly skills. They have an awareness of a broad range of authors, text types, genres and writerly devices and are able to critically respond to texts both as a reader and as a writer. Our pupils are confident to express themselves through their written work, drawing upon the range of high-quality models and literature they have been exposed to; they are not afraid to take risks in their writing and can write for a range of purposes. They have a good grasp of grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting. There is evidence of a range of writing both in their Talk 4 Writing lessons and across the wider curriculum.

Most importantly, children have found and enjoyed a creative outlet – a means of self-expression, enjoyment and communication.