Writing

Intent

At Jesse Gray we are all aspiring writers!

The intent of our writing curriculum is to enable children to make progression in spoken language and writing. We recognise that the teaching of writing is of paramount importance within a broad and balanced curriculum. Our aim is to ensure that children leave Jesse Gray as competent, confident, creative and ambitious writers, who have a clear understanding of the conventions of standard English. We aim for all learners to enjoy writing and value the importance and power of the written word. Our intention is that children will have an in depth understanding of different text types whilst writing for a range of audiences and purposes. The writing curriculum at Jesse Gray encourages children to immerse themselves in a range of text types, understand the features and impact of these and realise the importance of them. Oracy is prioritised in our writing curriculum to help build vocabulary for all learners and build fluency. We strive for children to be confident spellers and spell checkers, who have a go when they are unsure and know how to use a dictionary.

Implementation

Paired with our rich reading curriculum, our writing curriculum has been designed to promote flair, creativity and purpose We pride ourselves on being as cross curricular as possible and always ensure that our writing outcomes are purposeful by giving the children a range of real life audiences. In the past this has included, hand written poems delivered to our neighbours, non-fiction texts created for the Jorvik Viking centre, letters directed to the governors and DFE, local and national competitions to be in anthologies (Monster Poetry, Ghost Stories) and even our very own published book (We Are Writers). By ensuring the writing is purposeful, we give meaning to the work that our children produce so that they can understand that, although writing can be an art form, it is also a life skill. 

Vocabulary is at the heart of our writing curriculum. We promote this through always sharing definitions of new vocabulary in all subjects, giving children word mats and actively encouraging our children to 'magpie' words.  We have found that this has led to progress and that the children actively try to use this vocabulary in their independent pieces across the curriculum.

Children are taught writing skills through analysing a range of high quality fiction and non-fiction texts including teacher produced models. Challenging texts are chosen at each stage to ensure that children have an excellent model for their own writing and that there is clear progression. At Jesse Gray, we draw on a range of strategies to teach our children how to write. Each strategy has been carefully researched and trialled to ensure that it is right for our children. These strategies include, and are not limited to, Talk for Writing, The Write Stuff, Shared Writing, Slow Writing and Independent Writing. By drawing on a range of methodologies we can ensure that children are always engaged and inspired.

Grammar lessons are rarely taught in a stand-alone format, instead they are planned carefully to ensure they link to the text type being covered. This means that children understand how and why grammatical devices are used and see them in context within high quality examples.

Spelling is taught as a stand-alone lesson following our Monster Phonics Programme in KS1 and No Nonsense Spelling in KS2. Please see our spelling web page for more information. Handwriting is taught explicitly following our letter join programme. 

Impact

Children are assessed formatively throughout every unit of work using our Sonar system to ensure all children are achieving our objectives. We pride ourselves on being responsive to the needs of our class and therefore always adapt our lessons and unit plans based on the constant assessments that we make. We use ‘Independent Writing’ to formally assess our children.  Each unit of work builds up to an independent piece created by each child. This piece is carefully planned, drafted, edited and then published. The children take pride in their work and it is celebrated by being showcased in the classroom. 

We promote SMSC through all aspects of our English curriculum by allowing the children time to appreciate the beauty of language, exploring different perspectives, providing the opportunity to discuss a vast range of social issues and by ensuring that all children engage with texts from different cultures.

CPD

The subject leader always ensures that all staff are up to date on new research and teaching practices. Learning walks take place, alongside planning and book scrutiny to ensure that the children are receiving top quality education. Internal moderation takes place regularly and external moderations take place with other schools to ensure accuracy and so that we can learn from our peers. CPD is planned in based on assessment outcomes and the bespoke needs of each class as well as each teacher. This ensures that our CPD is responsive and purposeful.