Writing
Our aims:
Our ambition, at Corfe Castle Primary School is that all pupils are enthusiastic, independent writers who are able to write effectively and accurately in a range of genres and for a variety of tasks and audiences by the time they enter secondary school. Writing is seen as an essential tool across the curriculum and oracy as an invaluable part of writing for rehearsing and developing ideas. Writing style, sentence structure and vocabulary, to shape a text for its purpose and audience, is taught through the use of quality model texts from excellent children’s authors. An understanding of the spelling patterns and teaching of the mechanics of handwriting allows children the means to write at ease. We believe that writing needs to be taught and employed as a learning tool throughout all curriculum areas. We teach our pupils to ‘read as writers’ and ‘write as readers’ so that they understand the interdependence of language acquisition skills.
What does this look like in Corfe Castle Primary School?
Our focus is on teaching early writing through the development of mark making and teaching the control necessary for writing in gross motor activities through to fine motor and in daily writing-focused activities. Writing skills are always contextualised by the need to have the skills to communicate and express ideas and information. Letter formation and phonics are systematically taught and then applied to writing tasks. Handwriting is taught through our use of Letterjoin and the Twinkl spelling and handwriting scheme with groups of letters of similar formation being taught at least weekly as well as supported in every written task. We teach spelling through the use of powerpoints, games, the teaching of patterns and learning methods in which to recall tricky words and exceptions. This is by following systematic programmes and then applied and supported in the child’s own writing. Dictionary skills and ways to edit and learn new words are also taught. Children are encouraged to write as real writers do and therefore they learn to plan, draft, improve, edit and present. There will be some pieces where every stage is taught and some where only part of the process is the main focus. As pupils move from KS1 to KS2, pupils will become increasingly independent at evaluating and improving their own writing.The children will learn about the purpose of punctuation and how it is a tool to shape meaning. They will increasingly be taught about the grammar of English, using terminology to enable them to discuss and evaluate features of writing and its accuracy. The classroom environment will support learning with classroom aids, displays and an English working wall. Vocabulary, letter formation, key words, and grammatical terms will be displayed and staff will use them as a tool or to model their use. Teachers will focus on key areas for development in marking and feedback, both oral and written, to support next steps both within one piece or to apply to the next. Intervention for pupils to ensure all make progress is key. Some children will be provided with laptops and Clicker to enable a range of presentations or to support with motor difficulties or other SEN. Pirate Writing, which supports and extends learning in the classroom, is used at KS2 as well as Words First. Some children will receive additional SpAG booster classes in Y6 and others will receive adult support to scribe and rehearse ideas. Aids such as pencil grips, whiteboards and sentence models as well as a range of dictionaries and word banks are available and used in all classes.