Writing
Intent- Vision and Aims
It is our intent at St Robert Southwell Primary School to provide pupils with a high-quality education in English that will teach pupils to speak, read and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others effectively.
At St Robert Southwell Writing is a crucial part of our curriculum. All children from Foundation Stage to Year 6 are provided with many opportunities to develop and apply their writing skills across the curriculum.
Curriculum objectives are mapped out in long term and medium term planning which can be accessed in yearly overviews. At our school, we believe lessons should be tailored to suit the needs of our children and therefore we use a range of schemes and resources to support our planning. To support our whole school overview, as a school we use the Power of Reading resources which support a mastery approach to learning. It is about teaching Literacy through using high quality books and creative teaching approaches (such as art and drama). These well-chosen texts provide rich language models and structures from which children can learn how writing works and the effect it can have on a reader. This approach aims to engage and motivate children in their literacy learning. It also enables children to deepen their understanding of texts and provides a meaningful context for writing.
We know that children draw on their experience of reading when shaping their own writing. When children have explored a range of texts across genres, they form an understanding and appreciation of how language functions and how best to use this when writing themselves.
At St Robert Southwell teachers use these texts to allow children to absorb the rhythms and patterns of language, reflecting the cultural, social and linguistic diversity of the children, as well as introducing a world beyond the familiar. When exposed to a range of texts that demonstrate expressive, informational and imaginative writing, children begin to understand how to control and manipulate the conventions of writing for a range of purposes throughout a variety of forms across narrative, non-fiction and poetry.
Implementation
Curriculum
The Writing Curriculum at St Robert Southwell follows the objectives outlined in the National Curriculum for England and is carefully planned and tailored to meet the needs of our children. In line with the National Curriculum, we aim to ensure that all pupils:
- acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
- appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
At St Robert Southwell, we intend for pupils to be able to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. To be able to do this effectively, pupils will focus on developing effective transcription and effective composition. They will also develop an awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. We aim to ensure that pupils leave school being able to use fluent, legible and speedy handwriting.
We aim to equip children with the skills to understand the relationships between words, how to understand nuances in meaning, and how to develop their understanding of, and ability to use, figurative language. They are taught how to work out and clarify the meanings of unknown words and words with more than one meaning. Pupils are taught to control their speaking and writing consciously and to use Standard English.
Home Learning
We understand the importance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both grammar, spelling and composition skills, and so we want to encourage a home-school partnership which enables parents and carers to understand how to enhance the skills being taught in school.
Impact – Outcomes
Outcomes are measured through a variety of methods including both formative and summative assessment, learning walks, discussions with children, classroom observations, book scrutinies and external reviews.
We believe our impact is evident in our outstanding results at the end of each phase. Our children become more confident writers and are able to express their ideas more succinctly and fluently. We ensure that children become more structured in their written responses, learning to think carefully about the way in which they introduce, substantiate and develop their points. Children are able to experiment with language and explore different ways of discovering and shaping their own meanings. They become writers who use writing as a means of reflecting on and exploring a range of views and perspectives on the world.