‘Reading and writing float on a sea of talk.’

^{James Britton, Educationalist}

Intent

It is our intent that children at St. Joseph’s receive a high-quality writing curriculum that develops confident writers, communicators and fluent readers who are able to effectively articulate their ideas and emotions in the wider world. We deliver varied and rich literary teaching that inspires and nurtures a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately across a range of genres and recognise their own potential when doing so.

We recognise that children have varied life experiences and the ability to read and write effectively directly impacts their life choices. We understand that reading and writing skills also have a direct impact upon progress and attainment in all areas of the curriculum and also upon a child’s self-esteem, well-being and motivation to learn. Therefore, we recognise that children need to develop a secure knowledge of the skills in literacy which follows a clear path of progression as they develop through school. This is crucial for our school as we support them to become lifelong writers enabling them to participate as full members of society.

Implementation

In order to achieve our intent, our aims are fully imbedded through our writing lessons and the wider curriculum. We immerse our writing lessons using the Talk for Writing approach consistently throughout the school. It supports children to be able to generate ideas, draw upon their reading and write confidently for a variety of audiences and purposes. The methodology follows a three-tier pattern: Imitation, Innovation and Independent Application.

Teachers provide expert models of the writing process in daily shared writing sessions and there are regular opportunities for children’s writing and ideas to be shared, displayed, published and celebrated. Collaborative learning is at the heart of our curriculum, ensuring that our children are engaged, learning from each other and strengthening their knowledge and understanding of their reading and writing skills every day. Learning is adapted so that reading and writing skills can develop and grow and our children continue to make progress.

Substantive Knowledge

Substantive knowledge includes the understanding of structural, grammatical and linguistic features, as well as knowledge of handwriting and spellings. Children will begin to develop the knowledge of how to structure a simple sentence, using accurate punctuation, and will then learn how to combine sentences to form paragraphs to suit different writing genres. Through deliberate practice, this substantive knowledge becomes automatic and fluent, and children become confident in effectively planning, drafting, and constructing writing for different purposes.

Disciplinary Knowledge

In writing, disciplinary knowledge is the process of thinking critically and creatively using the automaticity of substantive knowledge. Disciplinary knowledge is the ability to evaluate and edit text and apply substantive knowledge to effectively write for a range of purposes. Children will be able to adapt their writing to suit different genres and audiences, making careful language and grammar choices. They will be able to edit and re-draft their writing, using tools such as dictionaries and thesauruses to help them as well as internalising the text and language through our Talk for Writing pedagogy.

Talk for Writing

Talk for Writing is an innovative approach to teaching writing developed by the literacy specialist and writer Pie Corbett. It uses quality model texts to introduce the children to different story/text types which they then learn off by heart and scrutinise with a writer’s critical eye.

Talk for Writing is multi-sensory and interactive teaching strategy that enables children of all ages and abilities to learn to write a wide range of story/text types using various methods including:

• Listening to and learning texts and stories;

• Taking part in drama and role-play;

• Drawing and story mapping;

• Collecting words and language strategies;

• Building their working knowledge of grammar.

Talk for Writing works with any genre of writing and across the year children will work with narrative and non-narrative texts linked to their current themes. They learn the underlying structures and the process of planning using story and text maps. They learn about the key strategies for creating interesting characters and settings and how to use a range of sentence types to create different effects including suspense or adventure.

Short Burst Writing

Our short burst writing plan offers regular opportunities for children to practice and reinforce their writing skills in shorter and more focused tasks. It also allows aspects of the teaching cycle to be revisited and consolidated as children progress through school and helps children to develop stamina and independence in their approach to writing.

EYFS

When children start at St Joseph’s the teaching of literacy focuses on oral language development, phonemic awareness, phonics, alphabet knowledge and early reading. Our Talk for writing lessons use a selection of age appropriate, high quality texts and models in a range of genres and incorporates rhyme, singing and an environment that is rich in opportunities for discussion and talk to help promote early literacy skills. Children are able to enjoy a wide range of engaging and exciting concepts that build knowledge and vocabulary that is essential for successful comprehension as they continue on their learning journey through the school.

We enhance our talk for writing approach with Drawing Club as a way to support fine motor skills, early writing skills, vocabulary, creativity and imagination. 

 

Adapted Learning & Inclusion

• We plan our classroom activities to challenge and involve all pupils appropriately
• Varying model texts
• Stem sentences to support 
• Verbally rehearsing 
• Pre-teaching
• Different levels of questions
• Retelling stories

Our writing lessons provide teaching and learning experiences that provide opportunities for children to

• show pleasure and involvement in experimenting with language
• analyse insights when discussing their own and others’ writing intentions
• draw out relationships between different texts that they have read
• reflect on language and linguistic forms they encounter
• contribute incisive, critical responses,
• analyse their own writing and the writing of others
• explore the nuance of language use and use language precisely
• Avoid giving additional writing tasks and encourage them instead to communicate their understanding in a variety of ways, giving them responsibility for choosing and evaluating the most appropriate method.

Spelling Punctuation and Grammar

 Spelling, punctuation, and grammar are essential components of writing that support the overall effectiveness of the text. They ensure clarity and coherence in writing. In order to support these essential skills, we use Spelling with the Jungle Club in Years 2, 3 & 4. Aligned with the DfE writing framework and rooted in evidence-based research, Spelling with the Jungle Club provides our children with interactive sessions based on phonics, morphology and etymology. This programme follows on seamlessly from phonics providing a daily cycle of review-teach-practice-apply. 

Handwriting

We follow the Penpals scheme of writing from Reception through to Year 6. We have consistently high expectations of handwriting and presentation across all areas of learning. Our children take pride in their learning and recognise the need to write carefully and clearly so that it can be celebrated by everyone. We have chosen this scheme to provide us with a coherent whole school approach that builds a strong foundation in writing. Penpals allows us to ensure that our children are physically prepared to write in the early stages as well as developing speed and fluency as they progress through the scheme. Please read our Handwriting Policy for more information.

Impact

As a result, we have a school community of enthusiastic writers who can recognise their progress, are confident enough to take risks within their learning and enjoy nothing more than celebrating their writing skills and achievements. We are proud of our writing curriculum and have ensured that continued assessment of skills is integral to our teaching. This in turn leads to good attainment outcomes.

Writing Assessment

Attainment in writing is assessed regularly throughout the year. At our three main assessment checkpoints, progress is tracked, using the Corner Stones Assessment Maestro which align with the National Curriculum. Regular moderation takes place, to quality assure judgements are made. These opportunities to moderate are in school and within our Academy Trust.

 We evaluate the success of our writing curriculum by:

• A continued reflection and review of the standards achieved against the planned outcomes.  

.• For individuals, a celebration of learning which demonstrates progression in skill development and underpinned by self, peer and teacher feedback.

• Pupil discussions about their learning, including discussion of their interests, thoughts and evaluations of their achievements. 

Skills Progression

At St Joseph's, the children's learning is assessed using the skills progression tool on Cornerstones where we are able to individually track the children's personal progression.