Writing
Our writing vision
At St Mary’s Primary School, we recognise that writing is integral to all aspects of life, and we mindfully endeavour to ensure that children develop a lifelong, healthy and enthusiastic attitude towards writing. The skill of writing enables pupils to communicate with themselves and others, while documenting and conveying their knowledge and ideas. Building on experiences, it encourages expression and higher order thinking skills to develop. Thus, creating a culture of writing in our school ensures our children are given the best opportunities to build their capacity and confidence in a range of writing styles.
By creating a stimulating environment and employing appropriate resources, we are determined to provide all pupils with a supportive writing curriculum which will allow learners to recognise their full potential and develop their:
- Literacy
- Creativity
- Independence
- Inquisitiveness
- Inquiry skills
- Confidence
Writing skills underpin most elements of the school curriculum and is an essential life-skill. Considering the fundamental importance of writing in everyday life, we are driven by the need to develop each learner’s writing ability, thus enabling them to play a full part in society. This is of the utmost importance to all at St Mary’s, as it is at the core of our Christian vision of giving our children the best possible start in life.
Intent
At St Mary’s, we strive to create a writing curriculum which:
- Develops children who are imaginative, creative, independent, inquisitive, inquiring and confident writers.
- Provides children with a range of writing skills and strategies to enable them to write confidently with comprehension, cohesion and enjoyment for a range of purposes, in a variety of contexts and for different audiences.
- Ensures that no opportunity is missed to foster an enjoyment of writing amongst pupils and a recognition of its value, by setting work that is challenging, inspirational and motivating, helping them to develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards writing, which will nurture a life-long love of writing.
- Provides opportunities to explore a variety of different genres and to be exposed regularly to high quality texts, providing a model for pupils to aspire to.
- Develops a wide and rich vocabulary knowledge which can be applied across a range of subjects and genres.
- Ensures children have a clear understanding of the writing process: plan, draft, revise and edit their own work, and learn how to self and peer assess against the success criteria.
- Develops children’s ability to self-assess by reflecting on the quality of their writing, encouraging them to construct informed opinions and implement strategies to improve their own work.
- Monitors writing progress effectively to evaluate, promote and maintain high levels of attainment.
- Ensures that children with writing difficulties are identified early and support is given promptly.
- Works in partnership with parents /carers in order to develop each child’s full writing potential.
Teaching and Learning of Writing
At St Mary’s, we are following the 2014 National Curriculum for the teaching and learning of writing skills. We are committed to raising the standards of children’s writing to ensure that all children are progressing and achieving at least in line with national expectations. The curriculum will be monitored by the English Leader to ensure that it is being used effectively to provide challenge, stimulation and excitement to improve the standards of writing from EYFS to year 6.
Our children are provided with a variety of opportunities to develop, extend and deepen their writing skills in and across each phase of education. In Reception, the learning of writing follows the Early Years Foundation Stages Framework. Children are given opportunities to extend their understanding of language learning through play and investigation, developing their characteristics of learning. Opportunities for mark-making are developed into more structured writing, as the children progress through the year.
The National Curriculum describes what must be taught in Key Stages 1 and 2. The school has a set of key objectives in writing that provide detailed guidance for the implementation of the National Curriculum for writing
Key Documents
Glossary
SPaG – acronym for “Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar”
Oracy - the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language.
