Here at St Paul’s, children are provided with rich and varied opportunities for writing and write for a range of audience and purposes around a wide range of topics. All year groups have mapped out writing units to ensure that teaching and learning not only meets the requirements of the National Curriculum but also builds upon cross-curricular knowledge.

As part of our English curriculum here at St Paul’s, writing is the product of a sequence of lessons designed to model and scaffold ‘what a good one looks like’ and acknowledge that effective writing is an amalgamation of various skills, ranging from the technical to the creative.

The build up to writing is supported through:

• Identifying and truly understanding the audience and purpose of a text– this is done by analysing existing texts to study how the writer has met the audience and purpose. We unpick the tone, formality and key features of the text and hook the pupils into the writing unit in this way.
• Grammar, punctuation and spelling – practising the grammatical elements of writing. This is mapped out progressively to ensure robust coverage of the curriculum. Pupils have the opportunity to recap existing or to be taught new skills which they apply and practise within a variety of bespoke tasks before the drafting commences.
• Vocabulary understanding – throughout each unit we explore the use of language in the desired writing style and make choices around the use of vocabulary to create an impact on our readers.
• Planning for writing – Planning may look different for different writing tasks however time is always taken to allow children to devise sequenced, logical and appropriate content for their writing
• Handwriting –The importance of presentation is promoted in each lesson. The progression of handwriting is planned in progression across school.
• Editing and redrafting – Children are taught to appreciate that writing should be continually revisited and revised to ensure it is grammatically sound as well as effective in fulfilling its purpose. We practise and develop the skills of editing within many of our sequences of work and allow time for pupils to edit independently as well as with peers.

Progression within writing

Children are encouraged to view writing as a journey and take ownership of their work. The expectation of what children should be including within their writing to meet or exceed age-related expectations forms the basis of all writing teaching and learning. Our teaching sequences are planned to introduce the pupils to the writing unit with an ‘Audience and Purpose’ focus (known as ‘Who is the reader?’ and ‘Why are we writing?’ in KS1). From this starting point, pupils unpick the main features of the writing which then leads into recapping or developing new writing skills over a series of days to allow pupils to explore their use of vocabulary, spelling and grammar to achieve the desired outcome. Drafting and editing is incorporated explicitly in KS2 although different outcomes can call for different sequences of learning.Below are examples of planning/teaching sequences that are used across school:

 

KS1

KS1 will continue to develop pupils’ fluency in their transcription skills through regular handwriting, spelling and dictation practice. Teachers will ensure that the curriculum for phonics has been taught and that pupils are able to apply what they have learnt in their writing. There will be a heavy focus on transcription in Year 1 and for those pupils who may require more transcription practise in Year 2 Autumn 1. This will embed and refine the basic skills of writing before pupils move on to the full writing curriculum. Lessons will include focus on correct seating/positioning, pencil grip, letter formation, transcription of dictated sentences at each groups’ phonic level matched to a weekly Little Wandle book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each time children revisit a text type, they build upon their prior learning by being encouraged to include more ambitious vocabulary and incorporate the expectations of their year group/ the text type more consistently and with greater effect. Children are also supported to build upon their exiting knowledge and skills in writing by exploring model texts (WAGOLLs) which increase in complexity each time a text type is revisited.