Writing

Intent

At Crowthorne our children will leave school with the skills needed to thrive in the modern world. The aim is that they will not only have a love for writing, but will be confident in writing for a range of purposes and audiences.

Our key aims are:

• To share high quality examples of writing to inspire children
• To provide children with the opportunities to be enthusiastic about writing in different genres
• To encourage children to have the confidence to spell unfamiliar words and try new styles of writing
• To give opportunities for children to practise handwriting, spelling, grammar, punctuation and composition across a range of subjects in the curriculum
• To ensure that children have mastered the skills needed to be an effective writer by the time they leave us

Implementation

Writing is taught every day from the first day in Reception to the last day in Year 6. Children learn through a range of daily lessons including phonics, spelling, punctuation, grammar and composition.

Our curriculum design is based around high quality texts. Children are exposed to a wide genre of fiction and non-fiction and, through their diverse reading, they are supported to become competent writers. Writing is taught around a key text and includes: story writing, poetry, recount writing, biased and non-biased argument writing, persuasive writing, letter writing, diary entries, chronological and non-chronological reports. Teachers plan for meaningful contexts so that children can develop their writing skills in real life situations.

Teachers organise their teaching within the classroom using various strategies, including shared, guided and independent writing. Teaching Assistants are used to both support and extend learning, working with pupils both individually and in small groups.

Celebration

Writing is celebrated every day, with many children sharing the best pieces with the Head Teacher. Children also have regular opportunities to share their writing with their peers.   

During Book Week, we also have a chance to write our own stories and share them with other classes.

We also enjoy taking part in writing competitions such as the Berkshire story writing competition in collaboration with our local library!

Assessment

Our regular writing assessments show progression of each child’s writing through the school, and when support is required it is targeted and timely. Regular training and moderation is a part of our teacher CPD schedule which ensures high level of teacher confidence and enables our children to continue to make excellent progress.

Impact

Children demonstrate passion and a high standard of writing. They are confident in lessons and work calmly and quietly.

Children leave school able to apply their knowledge and skills in spelling, punctuation and grammar to their written work.