Orrell Lamberhead Green
Writing
Intent
At Orrell Lamberhead Green we aim for our children to be equipped with the skills to write fluently, confidently and effectively for a range of audiences and purposes. We believe that this is an essential life skill and as a school we know the importance of how this supports future success. We want to inspire a love of writing, stimulated by rich and diverse reading experiences including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Through exposure to a range of genres and authors, our children will develop their imagination, creativity and language in order to express themselves through their own writing. We aim for children to gain an understanding of how language works by looking at patterns, structures and origins. Children will apply their knowledge of phonics, spelling, punctuation and grammar to write with technical accuracy. Like all good authors, we aim for our children to plan, draft, revise and edit their work based on self and peer assessment. Spoken language underpins the development of both reading and writing. Therefore, we ensure that every stage of writing is preceded by quality speaking and listening activities. Through discussion, demonstration and practice, children will have the technical vocabulary to talk about their own and others’ work. Overall, we aim to prepare our children for their futures by enabling them to be able to communicate their ideas and emotions effectively through writing and also to enjoy the creative freedom of expression it allows them.
Implementation
In Foundation Stage, pupils are encouraged to engage in mark making and emergent writing. Writing is incorporated into continuous provision to create a language rich environment. Writing is taught through the RWI phonics programme for reading and writing (Appendix 7 – RWI Phonics Programme EYFS).
Once children have been introduced to initial sounds through the RWI programme, there is a specific focus on correct letter formation following the RWI patter for each letter. Both letter formation and pencil grip are assessed and tracked as this is an essential stage of early writing which must be secured from the outset. By the end of the Foundation Stage children aim for children to be able to write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed; spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters; write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others. (ELG – Writing)
The RWI Phonic Programme for reading and writing continues to be used in Year 1 and Year 2. Children use the RWI session to spell words with sounds they have been taught and practice previously taught sounds. Some struggling learners in year 3 might also need to access the RWI Phonics Programme. In Key Stage 1, children use dictation activities called, ‘hold a sentence’ this enables children to focus on the construction of the sentence and does not overload working memory.
Outside of RWI lessons, children have opportunity during whole class writing lessons to apply their phonic knowledge when spelling and writing independently. They will also use a range of red words (common exception words) in their writing compositions. Children also continue to practice handwriting at each stage of learning to write and letter formation and pencil grip are tracked. Spelling is also taught throughout the RWI Programme.
From Year 3 onwards, spelling is taught explicitly across each year group The system includes a range of deep exploratory investigations, alongside short burst ‘chunked’ revision activities that increase the children’s understanding of spelling patterns.
Spellings are taught over a 2-week cycle consisting of a weekly 20-minute investigation at the beginning of each week. This tasks the children with developing their knowledge of spelling rules. Often, but not exclusively, these investigations utilise the Jane Considine approach, allowing an increased retention of spelling rules. Following this weekly investigation, the children complete a range of revision tasks such as ‘definition dash’ and ‘speed scramble’ to further increase their understanding of their spellings. Spelling lessons offers a clear structure and also allow enough room for creativity with a weekly ‘Quick creative’ task that requires the children to use that week’s spellings in short piece of creative writing.
Across the two week cycle, 10 spellings are taught by using sound associations, and 4 quick 10 minute revision sessions. Each class teacher displays the weekly spellings at the front of the room. Children are assessed weekly, and this is tracked against that week’s specific spelling rule to show progress. They are tested weekly, the first week’s spellings in the two week ‘chunk’ are initially 5 spellings, building to 10 within the second week. This is designed to promote retrieval and is supported with weekly homework that tasks the children with revising and using the specific spelling in a range of original sentences.
Handwriting continues to be taught and monitored throughout school and forms part of the Writing Targets document with clear progression built in year on year as detailed in the presentation expectation document.
From Key Stage 1 onwards, children are taught the skills and craft of writing through a daily writing lesson. A range of teaching styles and approaches are employed to teach children how to plan, organise, draft and edit their work. Pie Corbett’s ‘Talk for Writing’ approach is the foundation of much of our teaching and is supplemented by research and ideas from other areas. Teachers use ‘A Process Approach’ to teach writing.
Children become familiar with the text, through a wide range of activities including speaking and listening opportunities. When the children know the text well, they read as a reader. This involves analysing and discussing the text with a strong focus on vocabulary and oral understanding. Reading comprehension strategies are used here which reinforces work from reading lessons. Now children are ready to read as a writer which involves analysing the text to identify how it is organized and how the author creates different effects. From this, writing toolkits are created including strategies, sentence types, vocabulary and language patterns which the children can use as a plan for their own writing. These are displayed on a Writing Working Wall to support the independent writing process.
Once the children are really familiar with the text, they are ready to move onto the next stage in the process. Here, the children can ‘magpie’ ideas from the model and change elements to create their own versions. During shared writing, the teacher models how to write as a writer and gathers ideas, words and phrases from the text and from the children. These ideas are displayed, along with the shared write, on the working wall to further scaffold independent writing.
Throughout this process, children work on vocabulary building and grammar work from the identified writing targets which should be exemplified in the chosen text and modelled by the teacher in shared writing. This too is added to the working wall. Children are given plenty opportunities to embed these skills through regular practise and retrieval opportunities.
An important element of the writing process is proof-reading and editing which is taught explicitly. Before submitting a piece of work, children are given ‘green time’ where they proof-read for spelling, grammar and vocabulary choices. A green pen is then used to make any improvements. This is sometimes done independently and at other times, in pairs. Following feedback, the children respond to the teacher’s comments using their purple pen to ‘polish’ their work.
When children are ready they are given opportunity to apply independently what they have learned and is a good opportunity for assessment. They plan, draft, proof-read and edit their work using the writing models and the working wall as prompts.
Writing is promoted in all areas of the curriculum. The wider curriculum provides ideal opportunities to apply writing skills independently and give children a purpose for writing. For example, the knowledge, skills and understanding gained during a history topic could be exhibited in a diary of a Victorian child or a newspaper report about the Battle of Hastings. Geography provides the ideal opportunity for report writing or persuasive writing about topical, environmental issues and science knowledge can be shown through writing explanations.
Vocabulary is a thread that runs through every subject area. Texts are selected that contain subject specific vocabulary to ensure that children become familiar with technical and unusual vocabulary. This enables pupils to be better prepared to access the Key Stage 3 curriculum.
Impact
By the time children leave Orrell Lamberhead Green, they are competent writers who are inspired to write a range of genres including poetry, non-fiction and fiction. They can participate in discussions about writing, including evaluating an author’s use of language and identify, edit and amendments for their own and others’ work. Children leave being able to write for a range of audiences and purpose and can make thoughtful language choices to convey meaning. Children can write effective composition that involves articulating and communicating ideas and then organising them coherently for a reader. They have acquired a wide range vocabulary and grammar that supports future success. Being able to effectively communicate with confidence ensures that they are prepared for the next phase in their learning journey.
