“Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.”
Revelation 1:18-20
Organisation of English – Writing
Writing has a well-developed profile at Eltham Church of England Primary School. In order to make good progression in writing, children need to:
- Enjoy writing and recognise its value,
- Write with confidence, clarity and imagination,
- Write grammatically correct sentences that are punctuated accurately,
- Understand the features of and how to write in a range of genres and non-fiction texts,
- Plan, draft, revise and edit their own writing,
- Develop an adventurous and broad vocabulary,
- Know their next steps and how they can make their writing better,
- Develop fine motor skills to ensure consistent mark making with increasing dexterity, to produce recognisable letters, developing into a continuous cursive style of handwriting,
- Use phonological knowledge and spelling rules to spell accurately.
At Eltham Church of England Primary School, writing is taught on a daily basis from Reception to Y6 for approximately 45-60 minutes and supported and enhanced through other curriculum areas. We use a whole-text approach to the teaching of Writing and high quality texts are chosen to reflect a range of cultures and backgrounds as well as both traditional and modern fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Alongside engaging texts, we use the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework. Development Matters (non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage) and the English National Curriculum to plan and design exciting and imaginative opportunities for learning.
Our writing curriculum is structured using the components of transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing) as outlined in the programmes of study for Key Stages 1 and 2 in the NC 2014.
Click here for the DfE English Programmes of Study: KS1 & KS2
Click here for the English Curriculum overview page
Teachers provide clear structures for children to learn the skills of writing. Children are taught how to plan, revise and evaluate their writing and writing is modelled both verbally and in written form. Teachers plan writing sequences over two/three week blocks so that the knowledge of the writing outcome and specific grammatical structures relating to the outcome can be taught in a meaningful and purposeful context with a clear idea of audience and purpose. Teachers model planning and writing strategies, spelling strategies, appropriate punctuation and grammar and vocabulary in shared writing sessions which provide children with clear models which are then displayed on the Working Wall for children to refer to throughout their learning. As well as in the daily writing lesson, writing is promoted across the curriculum so that pupils are given frequent opportunities in school to write in different contexts using quality texts as a model and for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Class room writing environments have a prominent Working Wall which reflects the week’s current learning. These boards are regularly updated in order to record, visualise and assist children in their writing learning journey. Working Walls may include: genre checklists, exemplar texts which identify purpose and audience, language features, structure, planning, story mapping, the sequence of the current learning journey, success criteria relating to the genre/children’s writing targets, drafting and examples of shared or modelled writing and examples of connectives, sentence openers, punctuation and ambitious vocabulary.
Spelling, vocabulary punctuation and grammar
There are two statutory appendices in the English National Curriculum on Spelling and Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation. In Key Stage 1 and 2 Spellings are taught weekly and are sent home for them to learn. At the end of the week there is a weekly spelling test. Grammar and punctuation is taught as part of the literacy lesson. Punctuation and Grammar is contextualised within a writing planning sequence so that children are able to make a link between the grammar being introduced and how it works in the writing being taught. This enables children to establish a purposeful learning intent for addressing grammar, and connect grammar with meaning and effect. As and when is needed grammar teaching is supported by stand-alone skills based work that focusses on specific skills that need to be pre-taught or revised. Teachers ensure end of Year expectations for Grammar Punctuation and Spelling are met in line with National Curriculum and Appendices 1 and 2 which outline the Statutory requirements for each year group in these areas. Grammar and Punctuation is also taught through shared and guided reading and writing sessions.
Handwriting
At Eltham Church of England Primary School, we aim to ensure that all pupils develop a fluent, cursive handwriting style that enables them to write legibly for a range of given purposes in line with their stage of development. Pupils take pride in their handwriting, showing an understanding of the high status given to presentation skills across the curriculum. In EYFS the teaching of handwriting Is linked to the letters (graphemes) taught in Phonics lessons and follows the Essential Letters and Sounds teaching sequence. In Year 1, Children continue to learn accurate letter formation and move from printed letters, to pre-cursive and by the Summer Term begin to learn some of the cursive letter joins. From Year 2 a continuous cursive style of handwriting is taught at least once a week and letter formation, joins and fluency (speed) are focussed on so that children meet National Curriculum end of Year/Key Stage expectations.
Assessment
We assess writing on a daily basis to ensure children’s understanding towards the lessons learning intention. Live marking and instant verbal feedback is given to pupils within lessons so that misconceptions can be addressed in a timely manner. Whole Class Feedback is used to assess writing within a writing sequence so that children have time to select personal targets and respond to individual feedback through the effective and purposeful use of editing/improving time.
From Years 1-6, writing is assessed in line with End of Year expectations as outlined by the NC. Regular monitoring of writing occurs in phase, across phase and with other partnership schools in order to maintain high standards of progress and attainment. Response to daily assessment informs the next day’s teaching so that planning can be adapted to meet the needs of learners.
English Lessons – Writing
EYFS
Please see the EYFS page for information
Key Stage 1
Children explore the use of language in fiction, nonfiction and poetry and use their knowledge of phonics to support their writing. They are encouraged to use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation in their written work. The writing outcomes produced cover a range of genres which are revisited and skills are built upon within each year group. These outcomes include narratives, reports, recounts, procedures and persuasion. Pupils use the skills learnt in English writing lessons across the curriculum.
- Whole class English lessons are based on core texts as outlined in the English Long-Term plan and take place for approximately 1 hour each day.
- Weekly handwriting lessons
- Weekly spelling rules/patterns are explicitly taught to pupils in phonics lessons
- Writing opportunities in other areas of the curriculum such as history, science or RE.
Year 2 writing
Year 1 and 2
During Year 1, teachers build on work from the Early Years Foundation Stage. Children’s writing during Year 1 focusses on them developing the physical skills needed for handwriting and they learn how to organise and structure their writing in a series of simple sentences that start with capital letters and end with full stops.
During Year 2, children are more confident to compose individual sentences orally and then write them down. As children’s fine motor skills develop, they should be able to form individual letters correctly and in regular handwriting lessons, children revise and practise correct letter formation. They are taught to write with a joined style as soon as they can form letters securely with the correct orientation. Children further develop their understanding of punctuation and they learn how to write and link a range of sentence structures such as statement, question, exclamation, command. They develop their descriptive writing with expanded noun phrases and are also introduced to some of the features of written Standard English.
Key Stage 2
Children explore the use of language in fiction, nonfiction and poetry and learn how the structure of language works. Pupils write extended pieces of writing that use correct grammar in both informal and formal contexts, punctuation and spelling. The writing outcomes produced cover a range of genres which are revisited and skills are built upon within each year group. These outcomes may include: narratives, reports, explanations, descriptions, arguments, recounts and procedures. Pupils use the skills learnt in English writing lessons across the curriculum.
- Whole class English lessons based on the core text as outlined in the English Long term Plan are taught daily for approximately 45-60 minutes
- Weekly handwriting lessons
- Weekly spelling rules/patterns taught to pupils in three 15 minute lessons per week.
- Writing opportunities in other areas of the curriculum such as history, science or RE
Year 3 and 4
During Years 3 and 4, children should be able to write down their ideas with a reasonable degree of accuracy and with good sentence punctuation. Children build on what they have learnt in Key stage 1 and consolidate their grasp of a range of sentence structures and their knowledge of grammatical terminology. As they develop as writers, teaching focusses on developing more varied grammar, vocabulary and narrative structures. Children also begin to develop an understanding of more formal styles of writing and begin to understand how writing can be different from speech. By the end of Year 4 children should be able to write fluently in a cursive style.
Year 5 and 6
During Year 5 and 6, children should be able to write down their ideas quickly. The grammar and punctuation taught in previous year groups should be being used mostly accurately and children are encouraged to independently select appropriate vocabulary and grammar that reflects the audience and purpose of their work. By the end of year 6, children should have the skills and confidence needed to be a good writer so that they will be able to manage the general demands of the Year 7 curriculum, across all subjects and not just in English.
Enrichment
Whole school writing project ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’
From EYFS to Year 6, we read and enjoyed and text ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers it then inspired us to get creative with our writing!
Year 2 writing
Year 4 
Year 5
Author Visits
We are incredibly lucky to have author visits who give inspiring talks to our children and share their experiences as writers. In recent months we have been lucky enough to have talks from: Venessa Taylor is the author of Baller Boys, Patience Agbabi author of ‘The Infinite’ and Ramya Julian author of various books including ‘Women in STEM’.
