Writing
Statement of Intent
Our aim is for children at Horfield to be inspired by the power of language so that everyone enjoys developing their knowledge, skills and understanding as a reader, writer, speaker and listener.
We are passionate about teaching children to speak and write fluently and confidently so they can communicate effectively with others, and we help each child develop their literacy skills by providing vocabulary-rich learning environments and using high-quality, engaging texts. We want to nurture a love of reading, creative writing and purposeful discussion in all of our pupils.
Our writing curriculum adheres to the National Curriculum and is organised into the strands of spelling, grammar and punctuation, handwriting, and presentation and composition. When these different strands are taught explicitly, we encourage our children to weave their knowledge together to become creative, fluent and enthusiastic writers.
In our lessons, children have the opportunity to talk about what they want to write and to practise the drafting and editing process before they produce a finished piece. Through our careful choice of genres we give children the opportunity to write for a real purpose so they have the opportunity to see the impact of their writing on others.
Whole Class Reading Texts/ Writing Coverage
Implementation
Writing has been an improvement focus for the school this year and our English Lead had led a comprehensive programme of professional development to strengthen teachers understanding and skills when teaching writing. Writing is clearly linked to Reading and the children 'Inhale reading to exhale writing'. High quality texts are used as models for children to experience writing by a range of authors. Thought has been given to the choice of text so that each text has 'earned' its place in our curriculum.
Writing is taught daily across the school with children having the opportunity to write for a range of purposes and audiences. In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 (KS1), there is a strong focus on developing the foundations of writing through the use of phonics for spelling and the explicit teaching of correct punctuation and sentence structure. As children's skills develop, writing has a clear link with high-quality texts which are used as models to inspire the children's own creative writing. Through other areas of the curriculum, children are given opportunities for cross-curricular writing such as reports in Science or persuasive letters in History.
Writing units are structured to allow children the opportunity to produce regular writing which teachers then assess and set targets for improvement. Each unit ends with a 'big write' which allows children to demonstrate what they have learnt throughout the unit. In each unit there are a clear set of objectives that the teachers teach explicitly through modelled and shared writing. By the end of the unit children are clear on what they need to do to produce an effective piece of writing and this shared understanding gives them confidence to produce writing of a high standard.
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
We have in place a rigorous and structured programme for teaching phonics, spelling, handwriting, punctuation and grammar which is firmly embedded across the school.
Developing Oracy
At Horfield we emphasise the importance of spoken language through telling stories and performance. Children across the school are exposed to a wide range of performance opportunities, either as participants or as audience members. To help them become successful storytellers, children are encouraged to create text maps of the structure of their stories and to rehearse their writing orally before committing their words to paper.
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Writing Curriculum by Strand
Writing Curriculum by Year Group
