Writing

Intent 

Curriculum design, coverage and appropriateness 

The intent behind our approach to Writing is to:

• Provide a clear sequence of teaching writing, building on children’s prior knowledge and skills, making meaningful connections with reading.  
• Develop a love for writing whereby children take pride in their work.
• Provide real and exciting writing opportunities covering a range of different genres.
• Expose children to enriched vocabulary, nurturing children to enjoy using language across different contexts and in their own lives.
• Use a consistent approach to teaching the foundational transcription skills required for children to become confident, capable writers. 

Implementation 

Curriculum delivery 

Teaching (pedagogy) 

Assessment (formative and summative)  

Our writing curriculum is  implemented through our Collect, Connect and Create (3C's) approach underpinned by the belief that children must first secure the fundamental transcription skills of handwriting, spelling and sentence construction before they can become confident, independent writers. 

Developing Foundations

In EYFS, The Little Wandle phonics programme teaches letter formation and spelling of words. Children apply their writing skills within the phonics session and across the whole school day.  In the early stages of EYFS mark making is valued and writing is implemented in the moment, engaging children in purposeful writing through their play. Adult modelling is key to children segmenting words accurately and forming letters correctly. Environment enhancements always include opportunities for writing to encourage learning, meeting individual children’s needs.

In Key Stage 1, the strong focus on transcription skills continues, ensuring children develop the foundations necessary for successful writing. Through carefully sequenced teaching, children learn to:

• Form letters correctly and develop fluent handwriting.
• Apply their growing phonic knowledge to spell words accurately.
• Develop automaticity in common exception words.
• Construct and write simple sentences independently.
• Build stamina and confidence as writers.

 By securing these essential building blocks, children are able to focus more effectively on the composition of their writing as they progress through school.

Transcription in Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, transcription remains a key priority. Dedicated transcription timetables ensure that handwriting and spelling continue to be explicitly taught and practised.

Children follow a structured spelling programme through Spelling Shed, enabling them to learn, apply and retain spelling patterns and statutory word lists. Handwriting is taught systematically and assessed with a forensic level of detail, allowing teachers to precisely identify strengths, address misconceptions and provide targeted teaching to help every child develop fluent, legible and efficient handwriting.

Through this approach, the demands of transcription become increasingly automatic, allowing children to devote greater cognitive energy to crafting high-quality writing.

Within the ‘Collect’ stage, children explore and learn the skills of writing through 'writing as a reader', deepening understanding and promoting spoken language. Children are exposed to high quality WAGOLL's (What A Good One Looks Like), setting the expectation of the final outcome and allowing children to identify key features of different genres, exploring the purpose behind why they have been used for an intended audience and purpose. Children also collect and generate high quality vocabulary, as they 'magpie' expert words and phrases used in quality texts. 

In the ‘Connect’ stage of our learning, teachers explicitly model and support the composition of writing, manipulating the collected content into sentences using grammar skills from the national curriculum. Through guided and shared practice, children construct sentences and develop their skills, continuously improving their work through our editing sessions. 

Finally, children ‘Create’ their final published piece, after drafting sections or paragraphs of text using the writing skills taught within the connect phase. Children 'write as readers' by editing and improving their drafts before publishing a final piece for their intended purpose and audience. This produces a high-quality published piece of writing with all feedback embedded. 

The importance of nurture and relationships allow teachers to ‘challenge’ children by giving them immediate, direct feedback. We put great emphasis on children taking pride in their writing and having a critical, editorial eye to create the best work they can.  

Impact 

Attainment and progress (including national tests and assessments) 

The impact of our writing approach is that children are confident, independent and enthusiastic writers who recognise how writing can impact on people’s lives.