English Writing Curriculum Vision

‘A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.’ (National Curriculum in England 2014: English Programmes of Study – Purpose of Study)

‘You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.’
(Annie Proulx)

Purpose and Intent

At Radipole, we know that competent, enthusiastic speakers, listeners and readers become motivated, imaginative writers. Being able to turn your thoughts, your voice and your passions into writing is a vital lifelong skill, an art form, and a craft that can lead to positive well-being and self-esteem. Within education, writing is used in most subjects across the curriculum; children who write well will use their skills to express their knowledge, their understanding and their viewpoints. In the world beyond education, we know that being able to write enables people to play a full part in society, and by teaching children to become writers, we are providing them with powerful cultural capital. We realise that writing enables children to develop into reflective thinkers and determined learners who understand that perseverance and the willingness to alter, correct or adapt their writing will lead to great success and tremendous feelings of pride and accomplishment. Through a love of reading and listening to stories, children will develop the skills to retell adventures and then go on to enjoy creating their own worlds and fascinating characters, entertaining themselves and others through their writing. As they progress through primary school, they will learn how to use their writing skills to reach and influence various audiences - to persuade, inform, explain, discuss, and to record facts. We cultivate these skills with the children at Radipole through reading, discussion, analysis, role-play and drama, and through sharing the processes that we use ourselves when writing. From the early moments of talking and reading, mark-making and forming letters, labelling and list making, our children begin to see value and meaning in their own writing. This leads them on to creating texts for a range of purposes, leaving impressions on their readers and becoming proficient writers who are proud of their abilities.

‘A word after a word after a word is power.’ (Margaret Atwood)

Implementation and Realisation

At Radipole, we understand that in order for children to fulfil their potential and become successful, confident, enthusiastic writers, they need to see themselves as writers. We therefore aim to help them to develop their own writing identity by sharing our own processes and thoughts when we are gathering ideas, planning, writing and editing our texts. We ensure that writing opportunities are regular and meaningful, always preceded by discussion and the sharing of ideas. Model texts and examples are analysed and talked about with enthusiasm, unpicking the vocabulary, the grammatical techniques, the punctuation and the way the writer has used the English language to have the desired effects on his or her audience. We encourage imitation and exploration of vocabulary and sentence structure. We promote the power of writing and show excitement for writing that has inspired us, excited us, taught us or pulled us into whichever direction the writer wishes. We use role play or drama to bring ideas to life, and we give children opportunities to share their writing with classmates or perform to their peers.

At Radipole, we:

• promote literacy for pleasure through building reading and writing connections
• recognise that being able to write well is a key life skill for children, whatever their background 
• believe that every child can learn to write with the right teaching and support
• understand that excellent writing stems from hearing or reading and learning from other writers
• ensure that the younger children quickly come to understand that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words
• have a clear phonics policy 
• train all staff to implement the phonics scheme
• teach handwriting techniques and place value on presentation and legibility
• ensure that the construction of words and spelling strategies are taught, and revised on a daily basis
• use reading and spelling sessions as opportunities to investigate and practise new vocabulary and explore synonyms
• encourage and enable children to select and use new words learnt in reading or spelling sessions in their own compositions
• make writing meaningful to the children, but only linking to topics, the local area, current affairs or class texts if the purposes are valid and useful, and not creating tenuous links that have no real purpose
• provide opportunities for discussion and the sharing of ideas when exploring genres of writing
• model and share our own processes when planning, writing and editing texts
• help children to develop their own writing processes
• plan sequences of lessons that build on prior knowledge and incorporate new skills
• teach a variety of genres, showing progression throughout the school
• plan the teaching of grammatical features so that each feature links with the genre of text the children will be analysing and writing
• use the correct terminology when discussing or teaching grammatical features
• teach the use of punctuation to avoid ambiguity, and discuss how writers use punctuation to enable their audience to read and comprehend their texts as they intended
• use role play or drama strategies where useful and appropriate
• incorporate many opportunities for children to write so that skills are practised regularly
• ensure children understand the value of editing and improving their own writing and the writing of others
• provide well-defined goals for improvement through assessment and discussion
• ensure all pupils are given individual writing targets so that they make significant progress in their understanding and attainment

‘You can make anything by writing.’ (C.S. Lewis)

Impact and Evaluation

The impact of our writing curriculum at Radipole is the development in children of a desire to write and the confidence to present their ideas, creations, opinions and knowledge in a clear written form. At Radipole, we understand that the ability to write is an essential part of every child’s educational entitlement, whatever their background or attainment. We also see the positive effects of writing, such as self-confidence and a feeling of well-being when expressing oneself or creating something personal and original on paper. We appreciate that the ability to write with self-assurance, flair and proficiency makes an enormous contribution to educational achievement across the curriculum and a profound difference to children’s future prospects.  All children are supported throughout the school to enable them to reach their writing potential and to see themselves as writers, both now and in the future.

‘It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.’ (Ernest Hemingway)