Writing
Curriculum Leader: Katie Mabey
Miss Mabey is our English Leader and is responsible for this curriculum area. This means ensuring that we teach an ambitious curriculum, supporting our teachers to implement our curriculum through high-quality lessons and checking that lessons are helping children to know more, remember more and do more.
Intent
Our school's Writing curriculum intends to foster and develop a love for writing in every student, equipping them with the essential skills and fluency to express themselves confidently and creatively. We aim to cultivate a deep understanding of the writing process, enabling pupils to write effectively across a range of contexts and purposes. Our intent is also to instill a sense of pride and accomplishment in their written work, encouraging them to pursue writing opportunities beyond the classroom.
Implementation
1. High-Quality Teaching
Our school ensures high-quality teaching by providing teachers with continuous professional development, enabling them to stay updated with the latest educational strategies, resources, and approaches. We engage in regular moderation exercises to maintain consistency in assessment and grading. Our teachers utilize a variety of teaching methods, including modelled writing, shared writing, and guided writing, to scaffold children's understanding and support their progress. We believe in fostering a collaborative and inclusive learning environment where children feel confident to experiment and take risks in their writing.
2. Balanced Curriculum
We offer a balanced and coherent writing curriculum that covers a range of genres, both fiction and non-fiction. Our curriculum is designed to expose students to a wide variety of texts, encouraging them to engage with different writing styles, purposes, and audiences. We emphasize developing key skills, such as grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary, through explicit teaching and regular practice. Our lessons are planned to ensure a clear progression of writing skills, building on prior knowledge and enabling students to achieve their targets.
3. Differentiated Support
We provide differentiated support to cater to the diverse needs of our students. Through formative assessment practices, we identify individual strengths and areas for improvement. Based on these assessments, we offer targeted interventions to address any gaps in knowledge or skills. Our learning support assistants play a crucial role in providing additional support to those students who require it, ensuring they are fully included in the learning process and can access the curriculum.
4. Opportunities for Purposeful Writing
Our school places a strong emphasis on providing purposeful writing opportunities that connect learning to real-life contexts. We encourage students to write for real audiences, both within and outside the school community. This includes opportunities for publishing written work, sharing with peers, and engaging in collaborative writing projects. We also organize regular visits to local libraries, museums, and other cultural institutions to inspire and expose our students to a wide range of literature and writing.
5. Assessment for Learning
Our assessment practices are designed to be formative, providing continuous feedback and guidance to support students' progress. Teachers provide constructive feedback that helps pupils reflect on their writing, identify areas for improvement, and set targets. We employ a range of assessment strategies, including teacher-led assessments, peer assessment, and self-assessment, to involve students actively in the evaluation process. This allows them to take ownership of their progress and build resilience in their writing abilities.
Impact
By adopting this approach, our school has consistently achieved good outcomes in Writing. Our children exhibit a genuine enthusiasm for writing, consistently producing work of a high standard. They demonstrate a deep understanding of different writing genres and can adapt their writing style to suit different purposes and audiences. The impact of our curriculum is evident as students' confidence in their writing abilities grows, engaging them in a lifelong love for writing. These skills not only contribute to their academic success but also equip them for future personal and professional endeavors. Our writing provision in our school ensures that our children are well-prepared for the next phase of their educational journey.