Writing Curriculum Statement

Acorn Writing 

Empowering Leaners...Growing Minds

 

We aim to...

Empowering Learners

• Support children to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively in their writing.
• Supporting children to become articulate and confident communicators that can express themselves and engage in discussions.
• The ability to write fluently and with interesting detail on a number of topics throughout the curriculum.
• Love of writing that inspires children to want to write.

 

 

 

Growing Minds 

• Encouraging creativity in writing that develops imaginative writing that builds upon knowledge year by year.
• Provide children with the component knowledge in grammar, spelling, punctuation and composition for their year group.
• Develop children’s authorial skills by exposing them to high quality text and the writing process.  

 

Implementation

From the very earliest stages in EYFS at Kidsgrove, our children will receive a broad and rich writing curriculum that is mapped out in conjunction with the EYFS Curriculum. This exciting curriculum engages pupils through hands-on, purposeful learning experiences that ignite their love of Literacy.

From Nursery to Year 6, our staff follow a clear progression of learning through the programme ‘Pathways to Write’. Through our programme, staff are provided with Mastery Keys that are broken down to support children to succeed in writing. Through the Pathways to Write Programme, children will meet the National Curriculum expectations in writing. The texts used to teach writing have been carefully chosen in conjunction with the Pathways to Write Programme to ensure pupils are exposed to high-quality books that are diverse and reflective of society.

We take a mastery approach to the holistic teaching of writing: where all KPIs for composition, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, transcription and spelling are progressively mapped out across each year and are used actively to guide teaching and learning.

We recognise the importance of cultivating 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. Across the school, we teach children to write effectively and coherently for different purposes and audiences.  In order for children to be able to do this, we immerse them in a rich-text environment that provides models and examples of high-quality writing which children can examine and explore. We use a text-based approach that is carefully planned and structured.

The process of writing at Kidsgrove incorporates our ‘5 E’s’ approach over a unit of work to support the process of writing. This supports the teaching and learning process and ensures that there is the correct progression throughout a unit.

Our 5 E’s Writing Sequence is used as the structure for teaching writing:

• ENGAGE
• EXAMINE
• EXPLORE
• EVALUATE & EDIT
• EXHIBIT

Engage

This section is used as a ‘hook’ to engage children into writing, providing purpose.

Examine

A WAGOLL (What a good one looks like) example text, is shared with pupils.  Key vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, spelling and the sentence structure and text organisation used are all features that are identified, analysed and discussed. It is at this point that pupils can begin to create success criteria in order for their own writing to be as successful.

Explore

In this section, pupils will deepen their understanding of skills and features of selected genre. They are exposed to further examples and ‘explore’ as writers by using and applying specific skills. Pupils have opportunities to model and plan their own writing in a particular style before producing their own piece of writing.

Evaluate and Edit

At this point, children will use marking and feedback from staff and peers in order to improve their own written work. Opportunities for editing and re-drafting their work are encouraged throughout all year groups.

Exhibit

This is the point when children’s work is shared and shown and most importantly, celebrated. Our teachers use the 5 E’s Approach, alongside our Progression of Skills Documents and Mastery Keys for each year group. Alongside this, teaching and learning is supported by Genre Checklists that set out the aims for each specific unit. The implementation of our Writing Approach is also informed by research. We prioritise the use of high-quality texts across the school, which are used as an engaging stimulus to get all children excited about writing.

Our high-quality texts are specifically chosen based upon the age appropriate, stimulating and engaging texts Pathways to Write Programme. They are also chosen based on the level of vocabulary challenge and their links to our overarching themes in the curriculum. Our thought-provoking texts aim to ensure our pupils receive a vast breadth of reading experiences that teach them about the modern/wider world and diversity in all forms. Grammar and punctuation are embedded within our text-based approach to the teaching of writing, allowing children to apply these concepts as they explore them.

The combination of a mastery approach, and a quality text-based approach, provides children with a broad and balanced breadth of writing experiences. This also breaks the process of writing down into manageable, explicitly taught, chunks. Across the year children build on mastery writing skills and are given the opportunity to repeatedly practice each of them both within writing lessons, and within writing opportunities built into the wider curriculum. They increasingly use their prior knowledge to develop the sophistication of English through the progressive objectives taught. This approach aligns with key principles of cognitive science and metacognition.

Spelling

In EYFS and KS1 the ELS phonics scheme is used to teach spelling and into year 2to ensure a seamless transition from phonics to spelling once the synthetic phonics programme is completed. In KS2 spelling is taught at least three times per week through Essential Spelling and Word Knowledge.

Grammar

Children are taught to use precise grammatical terminology to discuss and learn from the works of notable authors.  In KS1 and KS2 grammar teaching is woven into our writing curriculum and progressively mapped out.  Our mastery approach ensures all pupils have extensive repeated practice to master grammatical skills for the year groups in many different contexts. We also use grammar starters to tackle any gaps in learning that have been identified through purposeful assessment for learning.

Handwriting

Correct letter formation is taught from EYFS – Year 6.  In EYFS children have daily phonics lessons where letter formation is a key element.  They also receive transcription lessons to further develop phonics into writing. Children in year 1 continue transcription lessons to secure letter formation.  Once year 2 are confident with printing letters they are introduced to cursive through the scheme letter join. Handwriting is taught daily throughout the school to ensure the majority of children are writing using cursive.

Inclusion for English

Here at Kidsgrove, we strive to meet the needs of all our children, including those with Special Educational Needs (SEND), with disabilities or high need. All staff approach Teaching and Learning at the point of need, addressing where all our children's starting points are. By implementing a variety of effective assessment strategies, we gain a robust knowledge of all our pupils' writing skills and knowledge and are able to identify gaps. We ensure that individual reasonable adjustments are in place to support oracy, writing and reading though visual prompts, additional resources and personalised learning resources. Regular meetings with our SEND families, strengthens the parent-school partnership and enables all pupils to make good progress across their English curriculum. 

Impact

A wide range of strategies are used to measure the impact of our Writing curriculum. The impact of learning is measured through formative and summative assessment. Children are assessed against key performance indicators at the end of each teaching sequence.  English is monitored on a termly basis in order to assess strengths and weaknesses in specific teaching sequences. Teacher assessments in writing are submitted on a termly basis and children who are not achieving in line with expectations are given further intervention sessions in order to address any misconceptions and to allow children to progress with their learning.

• Teachers from across the Shaw Education Trust meet on a termly basis in order to moderate writing and to ensure that judgements are accurate and fair. These meetings are attended by moderators who have undergone training with the STA and work as moderators across the city.
• At Kidsgrove, there are high levels of engagement. Children enjoy writing and are confident to experiment with vocabulary and sentence structures. 
• Pride across the curriculum. Work is well presented, and children are able to independently apply structure and standards taught in Writing across the curriculum.
• There is evidence of high outcomes.  Children produce a yearly portfolio of texts which ensures high outcomes against Age Related Expectations.
• Children’s vocabulary and ability to express themselves is strong and demonstrated across the curriculum.

 

 

Writing Long Term Plan

Writing Progression