Writing

At St Patrick's we believe that all pupils should be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing. We want them to acquire a wide vocabulary, a solid understanding of grammar and be able to spell new words by applying patterns and rules. They need to see themselves as writers from an early age and always be given the opportunity to refine and edit their compositions over time in order to develop their independence. Parents and carers will play an important role in developing skills being taught at school.

Early Writing:

At St Patrick’s we encourage children to write from an early age and during continuous provision, there are many opportunities to mark make across all areas of the curriculum as well as specifically designed mark making areas where some of the writing experiences will be teacher led.

Planning for Writing:

At St Patrick’s we use the National Curriculum and a text rich curriculum to structure choice of genres and skills. This allows a well-structured scheme of work for the half term around a class book which can also link to whole class reading. There is an emphasis on planning, drafting and editing work, and on modelling texts and using pupil’s own work as examples to improve and edit work.

Each classroom has a wide range of vocabulary on display and displays of pupils ‘best’ writing work are celebrated. From Y1 upwards, the Alan Peat sentence structures are taught in tandem with specific genres so that pupils can develop skills specific to fiction and nonfiction outcomes. Word and sentence cards, scaffolding and word mats are used across all key stages to support vocabulary and to encourage the children to be ambitious. Children who are identified as needing to close the gaps in areas of their writing are supported in many ways through adult support, guided writing sessions and post teach strategies.

Spelling:

We follow the Spelling Shed programme for spelling and weekly homework is set. When marking teachers identify incorrect spellings and then can proffer the spelling or encourage the children to find and record correct spellings to increase independence.

Grammar and punctuation:

Grammar and punctuation is taught in discrete sessions as well as in writing lessons. The skills are taught through the genres of writing and are connected with the intended writing outcome. These need to be embedded so that the children can concentrate on being ambitious and autonomous in their writing.

Handwriting:

We follow the Letterjoin scheme throughout school.

Children becoming more confident writers with a sense of enjoyment and creativity in their writing.
Pupils will have a wide vocabulary that they will use in their writing.
A well presented handwriting style.
To transfer skills for writing across the curriculum.
A clear understanding of spelling conventions and patterns.
To plan, draft and edit work effectively.
For parents to have a better understanding of how they can support writing, spelling and grammar at home.