Writing

Intent

At Ashmead school, we aim to inspire a love of writing. We intend for our pupils to speak and write creatively and imaginatively, with clarity, fluency and confidence, so they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others with purpose. Through writing, we expose our pupils to stimulating, varied literary heritage and challenging texts, as well as draw upon cross curricula learning opportunities to ensure the progressive development of knowledge and skills. Our successful writers demonstrate an appropriate awareness of context, purpose and audience, when making choices about language, grammatical structures, punctuation and composition. Writing is a complex process and we ensure that spelling and handwriting skills are a priority to ensure fluency. Through our curriculum, we have high expectations and promote high standards of language and literacy. We arm pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, equipping them with essential skills to access the wider curriculum and develop life skills. We enable our writers to become critical thinkers, ensuring they are taught how to plan, revise and edit, developing and promoting, greater resilience and independence.

Implementation

Writing at Ashmead school is taught and celebrated on a daily basis, with further opportunities to apply pupil’s knowledge and skills across the curriculum.

Through our overarching progression document, we consider:

• Transcription (spelling and handwriting)
• Composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing)
• Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

To enable pupils to focus on the knowledge and skills required to be successful writers, we ensure that cross-curricular learning opportunities are utilised and harness pupils’ interests, to provide a rich and familiar context from which they can write for a range of purposes and audiences.

At Ashmead, we have identified the following six purposes which have been carefully matched against National Curriculum expectations for each year group and which expose pupils to a wide range of genres.

Examples of genres which pupils can use to demonstrate their knowledge and skills within a particular purpose are identified below. These include, but are not limited to:

• To describe: scene descriptions, character descriptions, poetry
• To narrate: long narratives, re-telling stories, story openings, diary entries, myths, comic strips, recounts, fairy-tales, poetry
• To inform: non-chronological reports, newspaper reports, biographies, autobiographies, fact-files, interviews, blogs, vlogs
• To explain: explanation texts, instructions
• To argue: debates, balanced arguments
• To persuade: persuasive leaflets, letters, advertisements

Teaching, revisiting and building upon the key skills needed for a given purpose, enable pupils to make well-informed and educated choices when writing throughout their school life and into adulthood. It is therefore important, that we know the key expectations for our writers at each phase of their education as outlined in our progression document.

In Early Years, the development of pupils spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. The foundations for writing are encompassed through talk, play, exploration, and real-life experiences, in both adult-led and child-initiated activities. Learning is focused on the skills needed to write successfully and through the Early Learning Goals, pupils begin to explore the basic principles of describing, narrating and informing.

In Year 1, pupils build upon the skills learnt in the EYFS developing the physical skills needed for handwriting and spelling, as well as learning how to organise their ideas in writing. Across Key Stage One, a ‘writing for purpose’ approach is introduced. Pupils are exposed to the skills needed to describe, narrate, inform and explain, and are taught to communicate through the written and spoken word effectively for the identified audience and purpose. Pupils are progressively taught to refine their writing.

In Key Stage Two, our pupils continue to develop writing for a range of purposes, with the addition of argue and persuade, and show increasing manipulation of sentence structures and composition. Pupils continue to refine their writing through careful planning, drafting, evaluating and editing.

The modalities of writing (both compositional and transcriptional) are built upon each year in accordance with appendix one and two of the National Curriculum. Pupils transition from collaborative, shared and guided practise to apply knowledge and skills with greater independence as they develop as writers.

To be successful writers, we are developing further opportunities for spoken language through our involvement in the Voice21 project.

Strategies are used to promote opportunities for pupils to develop their cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional and physical skills through our Speaking and Listening Framework.

Through our introduction of ‘Celebration Books’ pupils’ writing journeys are celebrated across the school. The book moves with the pupil throughout their primary education enabling them to revisit prior learning and reflect on their own progress through reviewing previous work, identifying next steps and discussing how they might apply their new knowledge and skills.

A consistent writing process reflects the key areas within the National Curriculum underpinned by opportunities for speaking and listening.

Pupils work in mixed ability classes. Through a Quality-First approach to teaching and learning, we ensure all pupils are able to access the curriculum and become successful writers. For example, the EEF’s ‘Five a Day’ approach supports this: explicit instruction, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, scaffolding, flexible groupings and using technology. We believe these opportunities enable all learners to be exposed to age-related expectations and language, as well as providing adaptive levels of support and challenge.

Within classes, pupils have the opportunity to work independently, but we recognise the importance of spoken language to underpin the development of writing. Pupils are given the opportunity to work within a range of different groupings, as per the Oracy Voice21 project pupil groupings, to support the writing process, e.g. learning from each other, respectfully receiving feedback on learning, acting as a knowledgeable other, rehearsing and preparing their ideas, and exploring misconceptions. Pupils are also taught the conventions for talk (through the developing use of Talk Tactics) to support discussions and debates, allowing pupils to elaborate and explain their understanding and ideas, as well as giving them the confidence to formally present.

Metacognitive processes as a writer are modelled with pupils. Writing skills, such as punctuation, proof reading, editing, word selection, sentence construction and paragraphing, form part of this, using a collaborative approach in which the pupils contribute their ideas and thoughts. We model and teach specific writing skills through facilitating opportunities for discussion, by building, challenging, clarifying and summarising our thoughts to choose the most effective or suitable ideas.

Transcription enables pupils to write fluently and includes spelling and handwriting. Within EYFS and KS1, spelling is taught alongside the Little Wandle program for phonics. As pupils move into KS2, we use the Purple Mash spelling scheme. Where pupils require additional support with their spelling, Little Wandle catch-up interventions are used. Pupils are still exposed to the age-related spellings, as we recognise the importance of pupils being able to use the words when speaking. More information on these schemes can be found on the website.

In EYFS, there is a focus on developing gross and fine motor skills to ensure pupils are able to hold a pencil effectively, use a range of tools and begin to show some accuracy when drawing. Forming recognisable letters, simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others are developed when writing. Strategies, such as ‘Squiggle while you Wiggle’, are used to support this process. Handwriting skills are built upon across KS1 and KS2 as outlined in our Writing Progression Document.

Assessment

Assessment is ongoing and happens throughout the process of writing through a wide range of strategies outlined in the Feedback for Learning policy. We ensure that pupils are aware of their strengths and areas for development in their writing so they can take ownership of their progress. We have developed ‘Band statements’ for each year group to support the assessment of writing against the end of Key-Stage assessment criteria, as set out in the National Curriculum. Target Tracker is used to monitor the progress and attainment within writing on a termly basis. This data is then used to inform planning, teaching and learning for classes, cohorts, phases and whole school development. Regular moderation ensures consistency in assessments.

Responding to feedback

During the writing process, pupils are encouraged to regularly respond to feedback from their teachers and peers, as well as self-reflect on their own work. Purple pens are used to reflect the changes pupils have made in response to feedback to demonstrate progress. This encompasses an ethos that learning is an ongoing process in every stage of life and we are all on an individual journey towards intended outcomes.

Impact

Ashmead’s writing curriculum is structured to give pupils a ‘reason to write’. Throughout the school, writing lessons are linked to stimulating first-hand experiences that both capture the pupil’s imagination and give them a rich understanding of each topic. Pupils leave Ashmead School motivated and confident to communicate through both spoken and written word.

As they progress through the school, pupil’s writing covers a wide range of purposes and key knowledge and skills to ensure the National Curriculum requirements are met, necessary for the next stage of their learning. Pupil work demonstrates skills at adapting their writing to the purpose in hand, consciously choosing appropriate language, grammar and structural features to the task in order to express their own creativity and engage their reader.

Pupil outcomes are monitored by: work-sampling, pupil voice interviews, listening and learning explorations, drop-in sessions, moderations and half-termly staff meetings. The writing lead identifies clear next steps to assess impact and inform the School Development Plan, which are determined by a cycle of monitoring, evaluating and reviewing. Pupil progress is carefully monitored to ensure pupils are prepared for the next stage of their education and ready for life in the wider world.