English: Writing

We recognise the importance that Early Years plays in developing the essential foundations to become a good writer. Through the guidance of expert practitioners, pupils are encouraged to use writing as a form of communication. Trust progression documents tailor the curriculum in our Early Years settings to ensure that pupils are introduced to new content in a manageable way. These documents provide guidance and support for teachers in both nursery and reception year groups.

Our EYFS setting is rich in spoken and written language, supporting pupils to understand that writing has purpose. We have a systematic synthetic phonics programme in place to enable pupils to develop grapheme and phoneme correspondence. This enables pupils to use their phonetic knowledge to start early writing and orally composing sentences.

Bespoke writing sessions are provided for all pupils in Early Years, where teachers model the application of phoneme and grapheme understanding. Continuous provision is carefully planned to allow opportunities for pupils to apply their learning independently. These activities also develop other fundamental skills that contribute to being a good writer, including: fine motor development, gross motor development, hand-eye coordination and spoken language.

By exposing pupils to high quality texts, they develop a passion and love for literature; this plants the first seeds of communicating creatively. A wide range of text types are used to expose pupils to new language, grammar and sentence structures. Pupils are supported to recite, join in with and create stories. Familiar structures and repeated phrases enable pupils to have a firm grounding in narrative writing. Pupils are also provided with regular opportunities to use writing as a form of communication in all areas of the curriculum.

Our Early Years environment is fully inclusive of all pupils. Suitable adaptations are made to the environment, teaching and provision to ensure that all pupils are able to make good progress. Strategies, such as Welcomm, are used to identify gaps in language development and provide targeted interventions. Wherever possible, interventions are delivered within the classroom so that all pupils are able to engage with the learning at hand. Adaptations may be used to enable pupils to overcome barriers in their learning, for example using a pencil grip or a larger pencil for a child with dyspraxia.

The teaching of writing is delivered using a rigorous and developmental teaching sequence. This teaching sequence initially provides pupils with the support they need to fully comprehend the high-quality stimuli, whilst observing writing features in context. A high-quality stimulus may refer to the use of poetry, play scripts, visual literacy and extracts from larger novels. Teachers use the text, outlined in our long-term plans, to expose pupils to new and ambitious vocabulary. As pupils move through the journey of learning, teachers explicitly teach pupils the grammar, spelling, punctuation and genre features relating to the text type that pupils will be writing. Throughout this journey, pupils are repeatedly provided with time to apply the taught content. Opportunities are also provided to revisit prior learning, so that pupils can make links between units of work and year group teaching. By rehearsing regularly, we aim to build pupil stamina and proficiency when writing at length.

Using clear modelling, teachers demonstrate content for the pupils so that they can learn and apply these into their own pieces of writing. Teachers regularly provide examples of ‘What a Good One Looks Like’ (WAGOLL), to scaffold and guide pupils in achieving the intended outcomes. Writing tasks are purposeful and provide opportunities for pupils to be creative, coherent and confident writers. Pupils are exposed to a range of scenarios where different purposes for writing are required, continually considering the audience for whom they are writing. Teachers use a range of pedagogical teaching tools to deliver subject content, including: modelled, shared and collaborative writing.

At all times, the curriculum is adapted appropriately to ensure that all pupils, regardless of their ability, are able to engage with the learning. This is achieved by implementing carefully planned scaffolds, adaptations and differentiation. We understand that good SEND practice, is good practice for all pupils. We strive to develop environments that are rich in language and accessible to everyone.

The sequence used, includes 5 clearly defined stages of development. Each stage allows teachers and pupils to develop key skills from the national curriculum and prepare the to write extended pieces. Pupils are supported throughout the journey of learning with direct teaching and targeted feedback. Teachers select the national curriculum outcomes for their lessons based on the implemented progression ladders and school medium and long-term plans.

Immerse

During the immerse stage, the pupils are introduced to the new text. Through the in-depth exploration of themes, characters and plot in fictional stories, or the content of non-fiction writing, pupils develop a deeper understanding of the text. Pupils have the opportunity to use speaking and listening skills when hot-seating characters, role playing and debating, extending their knowledge. They will also be introduced to the genre, audience and purpose for writing through the use of a variety of quality WAGOLLs, where they will identify grammatical and organisational features, as well as relevant and ambitious vocabulary required to create their own successful writing. Throughout this stage, there are opportunities for pupils to apply writing skills into the context of the text. These writing opportunities are carefully planned, considering the learning pupils have undertaken previously. They provide good opportunities to revisit prior learning.

Rehearse

During the rehearse stage, pupils have an opportunity to write at length within the genre and text explored in the immerse stage. Teachers lead a guided planning session, modelling the thought processes behind preparing writing.  Based on the abilities and experience of the pupils, teachers may scaffold the rehearse write with shared writing, paragraph or sentence stems and visual cues such as story boards.  Assessment of this piece of writing will inform individual pupil targets and the elements of the National Curriculum that will be explicitly taught in the Instruct phase.

Instruct

During the instruct stage, pupils are taught specific National Curriculum elements relating to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. These elements may relate to word-, sentence- or text-level understanding (as detailed in Appendix 2 of the National Curriculum). New learning at this stage is predetermined and detailed in progression documents that stipulate which elements are to be taught at various points throughout the academic year. Teachers use assessment for learning strategies (paying close attention to the writing produced in the rehearse stage) to determine any recapping of previously learned knowledge and skills, or reinforcement of pupils’ understanding of the genre that may be necessary in this stage. During this stage, teachers may teach new concepts discretely before offering pupils the opportunity to apply their learning in context.

Create

During the create stage, pupils embed key vocabulary and build upon prior knowledge in a range of different writing opportunities. This allows them to independently apply skills taught during the previous stages. Pupils will draw upon what they have heard or read to inform their own compositions. Pupils are guided through the planning process from the rich starting points of the earlier stages and are explicitly taught what skills are needed to be applied in order to be successful.  Pupils must complete the writing process by composing their own version of the writing task.

Refine

During the refine stage, pupils will focus on the importance of evaluating and editing their own and each other’s writing. Editing should focus on the gaps in prior knowledge and any weaknesses that have been explicitly taught. When refining their work, pupils must relate back to the outlined curriculum expectations on the medium-term plans. Priority should be given to editing and checking to ensure the greatest impact on writing standards e.g. coherence, grammar and vocabulary choices. Consideration should be given to what is being edited (whole or part text) depending on the evaluation of the effectiveness of what has been drafted. Teachers should model the process of checking and editing using ‘thinking out loud strategies’, using the toolbox checklist, success criteria and dictionaries/thesauruses. Pupils should revise the audience and purpose for their writing and ensure that they have met the intended outcomes. Where appropriate, pupils should have the opportunity to publish and/or perform their writing and teachers must model how to publish the edited piece without copying the errors.

Spellings are taught weekly at Hob Green. These spellings are sent home with pupils after they have received direct teaching on the spelling rule or phonological understanding. Pupils are taught to segment words using their phonological knowledge as well as using spelling rules that are outlined in The National Curriculum. The teaching of spelling enables pupils to develop a sound understanding of morphology and etymology. Pupils are regularly assessed on their understanding of the spellings and this information is used by teaching staff to identify next steps and gaps in knowledge. Where appropriate, spelling rules are identified in texts being used so that pupils are able to see them in context.

Handwriting is explicitly taught to ensure that pupils’ written communication is legible. Our programme of handwriting provision also encourages high expectations of presentation in all areas of work. At Hob Green, we use the Nelson Handwriting programme to ensure a consistent and progressive framework for the teaching of handwriting. This framework provides support for teachers to model the expectations and letter formations.

In Early Years, pupils develop pre-writing skills, such as forming different types of lines, that foster good hand-eye coordination and purposeful mark making. Pupils move on by learning to form individual letters and identify where they start and end. To manage cognitive load, pupils learn letters in letter families, which are further grouped into sets. At this stage, pupils are also taught to form upper and lower-case letters. Once pupils are confident in forming all of the letters of the alphabetic code, they are introduced to letter joins. Joins are taught and grouped into four letter join groups. Pupils are taught that no joins are made from eight ‘break letters’. By upper Key Stage Two, pupils are encouraged to take pride in their writing and develop their own fluent, legible writing style. They are provided with writing implements and are encouraged to select the most appropriate implement for the task.

Handwriting sessions are designed carefully to ensure that all pupils, no matter what ability, background or disposition, can fully engage with the learning. Teaching staff carefully consider pupils’ individual needs and provide suitable adaptations where appropriate. Adaptations may include strategies such as: pencil grips, reduced friction surfaces and larger pencils. Further and more significant adaptations may be made for pupils with significant barriers, such as visual impairment or dyspraxia. Where concerns are identified over a pupil’s progress, this is referred to specialist members of staff, including Special Education Needs Coordinators.