Intent

At Earl Spencer, we believe that all pupils should be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing. We cultivate a love of writing and communicating through vocabulary-rich and high-quality literature, using Ready Steady Write by Literacy Counts. By inspiring and developing an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and providing meaningful and exciting provocations to write, we develop a habit of writing widely and often. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing; can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts.

We believe that all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, in part by developing a good, joined, handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school. We believe that all good writers refine and edit their writing over time, so we want children to develop independence in being able to identify their areas for improvement in all pieces of writing and edit their work effectively during and after the writing process.

We do not put ceilings on what pupils can achieve in writing and we do not hold pre-conceptions about any pupils’ ability to make progress. We understand the importance of parents and carers in supporting their children in developing grammar, spelling, and composition skills, and so we want to encourage a home-school partnership that enables parents and carers to understand how to enhance the skills being taught in school.

IMPLEMENTATION

 

We used the programme Ready Steady Write from Literacy Counts to structure our writing. Ready Steady Write uses engaging, vocabulary-rich texts to create a wealth of writing opportunities within and across the curriculum. The books provide a wealth of opportunities:

• to develop grammar and punctuation knowledge and understanding to use and apply across the wider curriculum, through sentence accuracy sessions;
• explore the writing structure and features of different genres, identifying the purpose and audience;
• plan and write an initial piece of writing with a clear context and purpose before evaluating the effectiveness of writing by editing and redrafting.

 

Building on this foundation, we teach literacy using a range of strategies which include:

 

• Modelled writing – Teachers model writing and editing to demonstrate the high expectations they have. They verbally ‘think aloud’ in order to make the writing process explicit and provide a rich and varied vocabulary for the children to utilise in their own work. This happens daily, through sentence accuracy.
• Shared writing – Teachers use the ideas from the children to create shared pieces of writing. This enables the children to see the writing process in action as well as having pride and ownership over the finished piece.
• Scaffolding - To develop writing ideas and language acquisition.
• Editing - Using sentence checkers and modelling how to edit writing.

 

Spellings:

Spellings are taught according to the rules and words contained in Appendix 1 of the English National Curriculum.  In Key Stage 1 Teachers use the Essential Letters and Sounds scheme to support the development of spellings in EYFS and Year 1. In Year 2 the children use Essential Letters and Sounds spelling to ensure the reinforcement of phonics and the development of key spelling skills. Teachers use the Spelling Shed Scheme in Key Stage 2 to support their teaching and to provide activities that link to the weekly spellings. Children are given spellings to learn each week and are given a spelling test the following week.

When marking work, teachers identify up to three words that children have spelt incorrectly from within that child’s known ability and they write these at the end of the work, so the child has the opportunity to write the correct spelling three times.

Grammar and Punctuation:

Grammar and punctuation knowledge and skills are taught through English lessons as much as possible. Teachers plan to teach the required skills through the genres of writing that they are teaching, linking them to the genre to make it more connected with the intended writing outcome. Teachers sometimes focus on particular grammar and punctuation skills as standalone lessons, if they feel that the class need additional lessons to embed and develop their understanding or to consolidate skills.

Marking and Feedback:

Feedback and marking should be completed, where possible, within the lesson. All marking and feedback is given in line with our marking and feedback policy,

IMPACT

The innovative practice across the school provides a strong foundation and opportunities for children to collaborate and develop social skills both indoors and out. This curriculum design ensures that the needs of individuals and small groups of children can be met within the environment of quality first teaching, supported by targeted, proven interventions where appropriate. In this way, it can be seen to have a very positive impact on children’s outcomes. High-quality visits and visitors to the school enhance the curriculum and provide opportunities for writing for a purpose. Children have opportunities to share their learning, their parents and carers and other learners through school-based and external exhibitions, performances, competitions and events involving other schools. Developing their independence and motivation as learners and their sense of responsibility as future citizens is at the heart of all our teaching and learning.

As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. They are confident to take risks in their writing and love to discuss and share their ideas.

Assessment

Teachers draw upon observations and continuous assessment to ensure children are stretched and challenged and to identify those children who may need additional support. Formative assessment of Writing is completed through teachers’ daily feedback to inform future planning. Teachers use the children’s everyday writing and adapt models and input to meet their current needs.  Teachers also complete a Reflecting on Unit outcomes document after each half-term unit, to identify next steps and the subsequent units are amended to include these focuses.  Daily sentence accuracy work is carefully monitored to ensure children are constructing sentences both coherently and accurately.  Regular staff meetings allow for whole school moderation of writing to deepen understanding of standards.