Writing intent
Within Mo Mowlam primary department writing is an area that we endeavour to make as exciting and engaging as possible. We focus upon the development of our pupils’ oracy skills in order for them to develop their vocabulary and confidence. We use the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach to support our writing curriculum.
It is our intention to ensure that by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to write with accuracy and confidence, in preparation for their transition to secondary education.
Our writing curriculum ensures that pupils’ are exposed to a wide range of different genres of texts in order to develop their writing skills. We are committed to providing a variety of exciting and enriching writing material to support our young learners in developing their skills and knowledge in writing
Implementation
- Staff systematically teach learners the relationship between sounds and the written spelling patterns, or graphemes, which represent them.
- The teaching of handwriting is tailored to adapt to individuals needs with some children accessing specific interventions tailored to address any problems with fine motor skills that may have impacted upon their progression in writing
- Our school uses the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach to teach writing. We are committed to making our English lessons as interactive and engaging as possible. Progression is established through the use of sequential learning steps. Talk for Writing enables children to imitate the key language patterns they needs for a particular text type orally before they try reading, analysing and writing their own text. We use drama as a teaching tool to develop confidence and social skills alongside the writing process.
- The school ensures all texts are accurately matched to pupil ability and are graded to ensure progression and challenge for all children. All staff use the reports generated by Rising Star and CAT 4 assessments to identify teaching approaches that will address the areas of need for individual or groups of children.
- Any children not making the expected progress have 1:1 or small group intervention using bespoke packages.
Summary – Due to pupils joining the school at various points throughout the academic year with significant gaps in learning due to social, emotional and mental health difficulties and poor attendance - we have put in place the following steps to improve outcomes in writing:
- A robust bespoke intervention package for pupils to quickly identify gaps in writing and put in necessary interventions
- Dyslexia screening for every pupil upon entry
Sensory programmes in order to identify and address problems that may be impacting upon progress in writing
Impact
The Writing Curriculum is evaluated by:
- Analysis of TA assessment information
- Analysis of End of KS1/KS2 outcomes