Writing

Welcome to our Linden Writing page!

On this page you will find information about what your child will be learning in this subject, photographs of work that has taken place and links to helpful websites. We hope that you find this page useful

Writing at Linden Primary School

Intent

We strive to empower pupils at Linden to love writing and view themselves as writers. We are committed to ensure that pupils have the relevant knowledge and skills to be confident writers and hence become full members of society. Genres are sequenced in order to consolidate and build on prior knowledge. The consistency in our writing sequence develops pupils’ skills and knowledge in grammar, spelling and handwriting in order to build fluency and enable pupils to focus on the composition in their writing. The foundations for writing, particularly the development of vocabulary and sentence structure, are laid through scaffolded and structured talk across our curriculum. This enables children to write confidently and for a range of different purposes. Across the writing curriculum, carefully chosen and engaging stimuli captivate children’s interest and allow them to develop writing for a range of purposes, viewpoints and audiences. These stimuli engage pupils, gives them a meaningful reason and purpose to write which empowers them to produce the best writing they can. Carefully chosen rich literature forms the majority of the writing stimulus as well as personally relevant, real purposes and audiences. We know that high-quality literature allows pupils to climb into both a characters’ ‘skin’ and the fictitious world in which they live. This grasps children’s interest and excites them, enabling them to understand why they are writing, whose perspective they are writing from and for whom they are writing. Literature is chosen to give pupils additional opportunities to immerse themselves in the world of the best books written. Reading spines are coherently sequenced so they are appropriately complex in content, plot, characterisation and theme across the school. This reading includes both modern classic and classic literature to enable pupils to develop vocabulary and cultural capital. Our curriculum prepares children for writing tasks – both academic and ‘real-life’, they will encounter in the next stage of their education and later life.

Implementation

Genres are systematically mapped out within each year group and across year groups, beginning with simpler genres and then progressing on to the more complex. These are revisited to build on prior learning. EYFS lay the foundations of writing through mark making, handwriting practice, spelling and sentence construction. Year 1 build on this through recount and narrative writing to embed the foundational skills of sentence construction. By Year 2, pupils’ writing broadens to encompass more complex writing, for example diaries and persuasive letters, and more complex grammar such as the use of subordination. In lower Key Stage 2, narrative writing develops to include dialogue and suspense and purposes of writing broaden to presenting arguments and points of view, culminating in journalistic writing in upper Key Stage 2. Writing frames and scaffolds are used throughout to support all children, differentiating these for children with SEND or who are currently lower attaining, to ensure that all writing lessons are inclusive. These frames and scaffolds are gradually withdrawn as children develop the knowledge and skills that will enable them to be confident, independent writers; as such, the writing sequence is not fixed but adapted where necessary, dependent on the needs of pupils and cohorts. More able writers are challenged to be adventurous in their choice of language, applying vocabulary from their own reading and are, in some cases, given the opportunity to choose the viewpoint from which they write or the form their writing will take. Relevant and purposeful writing opportunities are identified across the wider curriculum and these serve to embed and reinforce writing skills in key genres. Alongside this, handwriting and spelling are taught regularly and sequentially throughout the school.

The Writing Sequence:

Purpose and audience are the ‘golden threads’ that run throughout our writing sequence and are referred to at every stage. The whole school acronym of PVA is referred to continuously – the purpose of the writing, the viewpoint they are writing from and the audience – their reader. Children know that this is the glue that holds the piece of writing together.

Throughout the school, each piece of writing is taught across a consistent and established sequence of lessons. Children know what the stages of the writing sequence are and the reasoning behind these. Rosenshine’s ‘I, We, You’ approach is applied throughout every stage of the writing sequence.

There are five stages to the writing sequence:

In the first instance, grammar is taught discretely, developing skills in sentence construction, punctuation and vocabulary. These are directly linked to the particular genre being studied.
High quality models are then analysed to identify genre features and to establish the purpose of the writing, the viewpoint and the intended audience – the PVA. Models include authors’ writing as well as those written by teachers. These are carefully selected in order that they reflect the purpose of the writing and include the features children will use. Models are first ‘read as a reader’ to look at meaning and to discuss the effect on the reader – an additional opportunity to apply reading skills. Following this, the model is ‘read as a writer’, identifying key features of the text and the effect these will have on the reader. The purpose of the piece is paramount to this analysis and, for this, an expanded success criterion is created with the children to identify what a successful piece of writing looks like.
Oracy strategies are then used to develop understanding, particularly around vocabulary and sentence structure. These include strategies from Voice 21 and the Drama Primary National Strategy. This talk is fundamental to all pupils, many of whom have English as an additional language or SEND. New vocabulary, ideas and sentences rehearsed and explored orally and with the support of ‘oracy scaffolds’ to ensure that learning is inclusive.
Following this is the planning stage during which children plan collaboratively and are supported through the use of a variety of planning formats and scaffolds. These give all groups of learners a degree of independence and originality. Plans are shared, ideas explored and develop.
Children then begin the process of drafting their writing. Key to this is the way in which all teachers explicitly model the writing process: teachers ‘think aloud’, read aloud and model the thought process of the writer, explaining their decisions, changes and reasons for editing as they do so. Following this, children work with learning partners and peers to plan an initial draft, supported by writing frames where necessary. As pupils progress, both the frames and support are withdrawn and children write independently. However, dialogue between children, their peers and the teacher ensure that areas for improvement are identified and writing fits the purpose. Throughout the drafting stage, children are encouraged to constantly think like a writer and refer back to the PVA. Teachers share examples of children’s writing with the class to maintain the dialogue around editing and the purpose of the writing, and on-going peer assessment enables children to share ideas and both check and assess each other’s writing.
Children then begin the process of drafting their writing. Key to this is the way in which all teachers explicitly model the writing process: teachers ‘think aloud’, read aloud and model the thought process of the writer, explaining their decisions, reasoning and editing as they do so. Following this, children work with learning partners and peers to write an initial draft, supported where necessary by writing frames. As pupils progress, these frames are withdrawn and children write independently. Throughout this process, the dialogue between children, their peers and the teacher ensures that children’s writing fits the purpose and areas for improvement. Throughout the drafting stage, children are encouraged to constantly think like a writer and reflect on the PVA. Teachers share examples of children’s writing with the class to maintain the dialogue around evaluation and editing, and on-going peer assessment enables children to share ideas, check and assess each other’s writing. As such, the editing process is on-going and make changes where necessary to ensure that the PVA is met.