Intent

At Dudley Wood, we believe writing skills are vital to the development of children and recognise the importance of creating a culture where children can write clearly and accurately whilst adapting their language and style for a range of contexts. We want our pupils to understand the power of the written word - and use it.  A broad and balanced English programme using objectives from the National Curriculum 2014, determines the ambitious knowledge and skills that each phase and Key Stage must cover.  Our curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced to ensure progression towards building cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills.  This is supported through the use of quality texts that are age appropriate, yet challenging, which act as stimuli for inspiring the children’s writing and ensure a diverse range of genres are studied. Children are given a range of writing opportunities including the use of paired, group and independent writing tasks. A culture of learning from each other is promoted through the use of co-operative learning structures which include peer editing and improving.

The aims of teaching writing in our school are to develop pupils who:

• show high levels of engagement and achievement and exhibit very positive attitudes towards writing;
• use and develop a love of writing to understand language as speakers, readers and writers.
• are competent, confident and independent in the use of language in their writing.
• have an awareness of different audiences and purposes for writing: to inform, discuss, persuade and entertain
• apply their grammatical knowledge in their writing
• apply their phonetical and spelling knowledge in their writing
• apply their knowledge, skills and understanding of the English language in all areas of the curriculum

Implementation

Dudley Wood’s daily English lessons from Year 1 to Year 6 are carefully sequenced to ensure that each year group is taught the explicit grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives required for their age group.  This ensures that prior learning is built upon enabling the children to remember more and embed skills. The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is followed to ensure continuity and progression from entering Preschool, moving on to Reception Class and then through to the National Curriculum in KS1 and KS2.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is divided into prime and specific areas of learning and development.

'Communication & Language' is one of 3 prime areas that are fundamental to supporting their language development. 'Communication & Language' is made up of the following aspects: listening and attention, understanding and speaking. ‘English' is one of 4 specific areas which include the development of essential skills and knowledge and is made up of the 2 aspects: reading & writing. Pupil provision is related to attainment, not age. Children learn through play, speaking and listening activities, teacher modelling, group work and self-direction.

Each extended piece of writing is focused on a key purpose: to inform; to persuade; to entertain or to inform (our writerly skills).  The learning sequence is devised by teachers deciding on the skills that they want to teach the children based on formative and summative assessment, following the English progression documents to ensure development of skills, teaching the relevant year group objectives, applying and consolidating these skills and developing vocabulary. Text choice is driven by the desired learning outcomes to ensure they are best suited to meet the needs of the teaching.  Many of these books are selected from a variety of recommended book lists to ensure text of a high quality are studied. Each text is purposefully selected in order to promote a love of reading, engagement and high-quality writing from each child. These texts are further supported by WAGOLLs as exemplars.  There are opportunities across the wider curriculum for the children to embed and consolidate their writing.

Teachers follow the teaching sequence of writing: read, analyse, plan, write and review and plan stimulating lessons which incorporate ICT, collaborative learning, and provide a motivation and purpose to write. Planning is adapted where necessary to meet all children’s needs. Audience and purpose are central to the learning. Grammar is taught both in context and discretely when needed, which is then applied in children’s writing. Daily grammar retrieval practise activities ensure the children have regular opportunities to apply their knowledge. Teachers model writing skills on regular basis, and planning, editing and publishing is planned in as part of the teaching sequence. Editing is valued as an important part of the writing process. From Y2 children are taught Add, Revise and Proofread as a strategy for editing their writing. As children move through the school, they are expected to edit more independently.

Impact

The success of our writing curriculum, will be seen when children become writers.  They will demonstrate an obvious enjoyment of writing, discussing the choices they have made in their work. Children will write confidently with their writerly skills. They will be able to write not only for pleasure and to express themselves, but to achieve a purpose too; as well as a means of acquiring and demonstrating knowledge in all other subject areas; and to facilitate their everyday life.

Teachers use assessment well to embed knowledge. Assessment for learning strategies, alongside verbal and written feedback are used on a daily basis. These will allow a picture to be built up of the pupils’ progress, any areas of strength or weakness which can then be addressed in teachers’ planning. Misconceptions are addressed and become a part of the learning.

Each sequence of learning culminates in an independent piece of writing.  These are assessed against our writing assessment grids ensuring consistency in expectation and progression. Summative assessment is completed and recorded termly. Teachers will have at least 6 pieces of work through the academic year for each pupil, creating a portfolio of writing that provides a final writing judgement for that year.

Analysis of the data impacts upon teachers planning so pupils’ needs can be addressed so learners are ready for the next stage of their education. Moderation of teacher assessment is also completed termly within year groups in order to ensure that judgements are accurate. Moderation within Rivers Schools is also completed throughout the year.

Children who are not on track are rigorously identified for intervention/target teaching which takes

place on a regular basis.

• At the end of KS2 teachers use the Teacher Assessment Framework to report Teacher Assessment.

Whole school overview