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Writing

Our vision for young writers at Emmbrook Infant School

The importance of writing as communication:

We value the importance of a high quality education in the knowledge and skills needed for writing. Writing is a key form of communication as our children grow up in a world of print.

We know children write best when there is a purpose, a context, strong models across different writing genres and explicit teaching of the skills needed to be accomplished writers. We want our pupils to develop strong and ambitious vocabularies so they can have choices when expressing themselves, creatively to entertain or when giving information.  Good talking precludes good writing and Oracy is taught through the school, supported by a rich choice of reading texts and curriculum subject specific vocabulary lists to support this.

We want to inspire our pupils as writers by exposing them to high quality writing examples across many genres and from across diverse cultures. These are planned through our yearly text choice rationale. Teachers will model writing every day and within different curriculum subject contexts, informing pupils on vocabulary choices and grammar conventions so that their writing progress is increasingly coherent and effective when read aloud.

Children are taught to write with increasing fluency and stamina with a cursive handwriting style taught. As children enter FS2 they will develop the mechanics of writing beginning with a pre cursive script before quickly learning to join their writing so they can focus more on the content. 

Daily SSP phonics instruction supports pupils in segmenting words into  units of sound as well as  teaching the spelling of common exception words.

The National Curriculum for Years 1 and 2 aims:

to promote high standards of language and literacy for all pupils by equipping them with a strong command of the spoken and written language conventions,  positive attitudes towards and  a stamina for writing, and the acquisition of skills in spelling, punctuation, grammar, handwriting and composition across the curriculum.

  • Good writing is fed by developing strong habits of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.
  • An appreciation of a culturally rich and diverse literary heritage

We follow the New Literacy framework guidelines 2021 and the National Curriculum objectives for Year 1 and 2 when planning for writing in the KS1 curriculum.

In FS2 planning is guide by the developmental milestones in Development matters with a view to all children meeting the Early Learning Goal at the end of FS2:

Fine Motor Skills ELG

Children at the expected level of development will: – Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases; – Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery; – Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.

Writing ELG

Children at the expected level of development will: – Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed; – Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters; – Write simple phrases and sentences that can be ready by others.

Implementation

Phonics and spelling:

Children need to be proficient in developing phonetic knowledge to read and write texts. From the first days in EYFS we use a consistent whole school Synthetic Spelling Program to teach decoding and encoding skills.

The Early Years Framework and National Curriculum plans progressively build on writing skills and knowledge year on year.

Spelling is prioritised with daily timetabled group phonics instruction and this is supported by further weekly/daily opportunities to teach and apply spelling skills

Class Teaching:

  • A fluent handwriting style is essential for all children to enable them to write at length. Handwriting is prioritised when children join school and daily practice takes place in FS2 and Year 1.
  • In the classroom book corners and displays, hold a selection of quality texts organised by genre or author focus. These book selections are changed within each term allowing strong writing models to be read and shared.
  • The school highlights the rationale behind the careful selection of quality texts that are used as models for the children’s own writing
  • Writing is taught daily, in genre-based units, where a progression of skills are taught enabling the children to write an extended final piece of work at the end of the unit.
  • Class Journey boards enable the children to understand the learning journey through a unit of work, and why they are learning about each component needed to write a specific genre.
  • Stamina for writing is developed from year one where children are expected to write a sustained piece of work using all the elements of writing they have learnt in the unit.
  • Writing skills are applied to the wider curriculum where the children are expected to transfer their knowledge of vocabulary and secretarial skills to other subjects e.g. historical biographies, science fact-files etc
  • The teaching of oracy across the school further supports expanding vocabularies. This in turn supports the children when drawing on their reading to inform their writing choices.
  • Pupils with SEND are well supported to enable them to access all areas of the writing curriculum. Keep-up sessions are delivered to ensure any identified gaps are closed.
  • Within the early years, reading and writing stations are set up to invite and encourage the children to write for a purpose. Opportunities for mark-making are planned for during child-initiated learning.

Assessment:

  • Termly moderation of writing is carried out with all staff to ensure consistency of expectation
  • Half-termly summative writing assessments, assess writing progress and inform future interventions and next step learning.
  • Leadership and management ensure regular and rigorous training is provided to ensure consistency of approach to modelling of writing and marking and feedback, including the whole TA team.

This support builds teams of expert teachers in writing across the school. Staff and SLT monitor progress across the school half-termly and act on information from assessment.

Impact

All pupils are expected to meet age-related expectation in writing by the end of key stage one. The will leave the infant school with an increased confidence in themselves as young writers. They have a strong knowledge and understanding of the phonetic spelling code and grammar conventions taught from the National Curriculum.  Children will leave with a wider, more ambitious vocabulary, which they use in their writing compositions across different curriculum subjects, within different genres and for different purposes.

We hope that a strong exposure to a wide range of stimulating, high quality texts by a wide range of authors chosen to support  and enhance the children’s cultural capital, will inspire them to continue writing for pleasure and to inform and support them as they move  on to access a Key stage 2 curriculum.