St Anne's Catholic Primary School

Writing

To appreciate and apply rich vocabulary and develop a strong understanding of grammar whilst applying creativity using a range of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language to ensure students can articulate their needs, passions and desires in life.

Our school is a language rich environment which enables pupils to access new and challenging vocabulary. We want our pupils to become confident, creative and independent writers who are able to articulate their thoughts, ideas and feelings through the written word. Our aim is that children develop transferable skills which they can use and apply across the wider curriculum and throughout their lives. In the world we live in today, it is becoming increasingly important that individuals have the tools and are empowered to communicate their ideas and opinions about issues that matter to them.

Where possible, writing units will be linked to the whole school curriculum theme. Links to special events such as Black History Month, Remembrance Day and significant points throughout the liturgical year such as Holy Week and Christmas will also be made in order to improve the quality of cross-curricular writing. Throughout the year, children will write for a range of purposes and audiences and will experience Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry.

Writing is based around a high-quality key text and units of work are approximately 3 weeks. All units begin with a hook that clearly outlines the audience and purpose of writing and end with a final published piece.

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. Jeremiah 30:2

Books, whether fiction or nonfiction, are meant to be read. As writers who share our faith through story, we want the words that flow from our fingertips to be God-inspired. Different authors will have different stories to tell and write, so don’t compare yourself to someone else.

The Writing Process

1. Planning - This is an opportunity to generate their initial ideas before pupils begin writing. Pupils could create their own toolkit that they can refer back to as they write.

2. Drafting - This focuses on creating their first complete piece of work. Pupils should set out their writing in a logical order. Although accurate spelling, grammar and handwriting are important, at this stage they are not the main focus.

3. Sharing - sharing ideas or drafts throughout the writing process gives pupils feedback. Example strategy: in pairs, listen and read along as the author reads aloud.

4. Evaluating - checking that the writing toolkit is being achieved throughout the process. This can be done by pupils as they re-read their writing or through feedback from adults or peers. Children should consider whether their piece of writing has met its intended purpose and meets the need of the audience.

5. Editing - Editing involves improving writing to have a greater impact on the reader by

Improving sentence structure
adding in detail, deleting anything unnecessary and making greater links within the text

6. Proofreading - Proof reading involves:

Reviewing spelling
Checking and amending punctuation
Checking grammar
Correcting any mistakes

7. Publishing/polishing - presenting the work so that others can read it. This may not be the outcome for all pieces of writing, but when used appropriately it can provide a strong incentive for pupils to produce high-quality writing and encourage them in particular to carefully revise and edit.

Our Writing Curriculum - Long Term Plan

Learning to write is like learning an instrument, you’ve got to be prepared for hitting wrong notes occasionally, or quite a lot, cause I wrote an awful lot before I wrote anything I was really happy with.

(J.K. Rowling)

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Handwriting

At St Anne’s, a cursive, joined up handwriting script is taught. Children are introduced to this style from their earliest schooling as it is considered to be the most natural development of children’s earliest attempts at writing. We give a high profile to handwriting and encourage all children to take pride in their presentation.

Aims:

Each aim is considered equally important:

To teach correct letter formation.
To teach children to write with a flowing hand which is legible, swift and pleasant to look at.
To enable children to develop their own style of handwriting as they progress through Key Stage 2.
To support the development of correct spelling and to aid in the elimination of letter reversals by the learning of word patterns and the correct joining of letters.
To ensure that children of differing abilities are provided with appropriate and achievable goals.
To assist children in taking pride with the presentation of their work.
To appreciate handwriting as an art form.
To display excellent examples of handwriting in every classroom and around the school.

Spellings

Weekly spelling lists are set for each year group (Y1-Y6) A list of words sent home each week to learn. Please see documents below for the spelling patterns for each year group.

Year 1 Spellings

True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.

Saint Francis de Sales

Classics

Each year, one half term will be spent studying classic texts and poems through reading and writing units. It is important that our children experience a diverse ‘reading diet’ and develop an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage.

St Anne's Catholic Primary School

Writing

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St Anne's Catholic Primary School

Writing

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