Writing

Intent

At Willow Wood Primary School we believe that a quality Literacy (English) curriculum should develop children’s knowledge, skills and love of writing. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in writing and love to engage in writing for pleasure.
We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. We believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.

Implementation

These aims are embedded across our literacy lessons and the wider curriculum. We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for writing. We have developed a curriculum based on Brunner’s spiral curriculum and Ebbinghaus’ ‘forgetting curve’. Our curriculum is developed to show progressing from EYFS to Year 6 with a focus on core texts taken from the 5 plagues of reading. Each text has been linked to a particular writing style to ensure children have experience of writing for a range of purposes. In addition, writing is embedded across the curriculum with an extended writing task taking place in foundation subjects at least once per week. This ensures children have a secure understanding of the importance of writing in all areas of life and learning.

Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum for English 2014.

The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

Impact

As a result we have a community of enthusiastic writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. They are confident to take risks in their writing, and love to discuss and share their work. Our attainment in writing at the end of EYFS, KS1 and KS2 is improving as a result of our relentless approach to writing.

English Policy

Writing Yearly Overview

English Lesson Design

Writing Progression of Skills Grid