Writing Curriculum Statement of Intent

At Westwood we aim to teach children to become confident and competent writers. Through the ‘adventure approach’ to the curriculum we provide the children with a purpose and desire to write as they feel invested in what they are doing. Writing is cross curricular or taught through a book therefore children begin every piece of writing being able to draw upon prior knowledge taught; this allows them to create links across the curriculum. Expectations of writing remain high across all subjects developing a sense of pride within the children.

Throughout Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 the children are given opportunities to write for a range of purposes, genres and audiences. Through writing we aim to extend and enrich our children’s vocabulary. We believe that having a wide vocabulary helps children communicate their ideas in a more engaging way and boosts their power of persuasion and the impact on the intended audience.

Writing Curriculum Implementation

At Westwood, we believe that providing a curriculum which is engaging and hands on is key. Through the whole curriculum we want to create a culture of ‘botheredness’ so the children are fully immersed in what they are doing. In order to do this, we deliver our lessons through learning adventures with a driver subject. Writing is taught to link with either the driver subject or through a book therefore the children have the necessary information and motivation to produce excellent pieces of writing.

From Early Years to Year 6 we use a range of teaching strategies to engage and inspire the children in the writing curriculum:

Writing hooks
Imagineering: When using Imagineering in writing the children can fully immerse themselves in the writing, allowing them to feel a purpose in what they are producing. Imagineering may offer the children a ‘problem’ that they need to solve and they can explore this through their writing. It can be used to develop a clear understanding of a setting, character or situation through the use of drama. Imagineering also provides opportunity to ‘hook’ the children into a piece of writing.
Outdoor Learning: Through the use of the outdoors, real-life experiences and writing hooks are created. This gives the children an insight into what they are writing about and builds on their imagination.
Active Learning: Active learning within writing motivates children and enhances their learning experience. In writing, children complete a range of active learning activities, either moving around the classroom or outside, ranging from the teaching of the genre, the specific writing objective for the writing lesson and generating ideas to include within their writing.
Real life experiences
We endeavour to ensure that our writing curriculum is enriched with real life experiences ranging from trips, visitors or hands on practical learning to ensure all our learners are starting their writing from the same advantage point. We believe every child should have the opportunity and access to a wide range of experiences.

Vocabulary

At Westwood we want to equip the children with rich and varied vocabulary that they can use to enhance their writing. Westwood’s Word Wizard provides the children with 3 words per genre for KS1 and 5 words per genre for KS2 for them to learn and use within their writing. The wizard reveals the words at the beginning of the week, followed by direct teaching about the word meanings and how to use them correctly in different contexts. A game or activity will take place to help embed the new vocabulary. The children will then be encouraged to use these in their work. Within their writing, the words will be highlighted in blue. If they include all of the given words, they will receive an individual reward (based on the class reward systems).

Genre

It is not an expectation that children will be writing in every writing lesson as they need to develop their knowledge and understanding of the context as well as time to form and articulate their ideas.

In writing lessons there should be a balance between teaching and learning about different genres and their features, the technical aspects of writing (sentence construction, grammatical structures, vocabulary, punctuation) and allowing children to re-draft and edit their work. All teachers are provided with a list of genres which can be covered and assessed throughout the year.

Structure of teaching a genre

In KS1, some genres are taught two per week (diary, letter, advert, descriptions, recount, invitation). Some are taught over a week (instructions, report, evaluation). A story is taught over two weeks (see KS1 Long term plan). In KS2, genres are taught over 2 or 3 weeks. In KS2, the structure of the writing remains the same for every new genre that is taught however the length of piece may differ therefore changing the length of time spent on each genre.

Each new piece of writing starts with the children taking part in a writing hook which could include any of the above methods (or may have already occurred through another subject e.g. a history lesson). Children will then learn about what the genre of writing is that they’re completing and look at a range of model texts. They will find out their wizard words for this genre and complete an activity based on them. Next, they will complete their ‘brain box’ bringing together everything they need to know prior to writing: the purpose and reader, the effects on the reader, their success criteria and key vocabulary. Children will complete their own brain box using knowledge gained from the previous activities. The next part of the writing process introduces the SPAG elements. The teacher will have chosen between 3 and 5 writing objectives, taking ideas from the children’s success criteria in their ‘Brain Box’. The teacher will choose how many to teach at this point (sometimes all could be taught at once or they could be introduced with each new paragraph). Children will complete the SPAG activity (in context to the writing) for whichever objectives are taught. Writing the piece then begins with the first paragraph and follows this same structure for each of the subsequent paragraphs. The context of the paragraph is introduced, and the SPAG elements recapped with children writing an additional example at the top of their page or, if children able, a new one may be introduced to provide extra challenge. The first paragraph is then written by the children. The paragraph will then be marked by the teacher before the next day’s lesson with E1 and E2 edits provided (see below). In the next lesson, the children will write their second draft of their first paragraph ensuring they make any corrections or improvements that were given. This second draft is then marked by the teacher before the next day’s lesson. Then the children’s next lesson starts with them writing their second draft (final one) in their ‘Published writing’ book. This process continues for the remaining paragraphs until they have their final piece written in their ‘Published writing’ book.

Marking and feedback

We know that effective marking and feedback can have a significant impact on children’s progress and is an integral part of the teaching and learning process. At Westwood we aim to make all marking and feedback meaningful, manageable and motivating and our guiding principle is that marking is entirely for the benefit of the children. Marking and feedback will celebrate children’s effort and achievement and will also enable the children to make corrections and improve their work. The piece of writing in their published writing book will be marked with a positive comment praising their work. The writing in their draft writing book will be helping them improve their work through the use of E1s and E2s.

E1 and E2 edits for the re-drafts

Each new draft of the paragraphs must be marked by the teacher before the next lesson. E1 (corrections) and E2 (improvements) need to be given for each paragraph.

Mistakes (E1)

The teacher will indicate if there are spelling mistakes, punctuation errors or tense errors that the child needs to correct. There is not an expectation that all mistakes are picked up on; the teacher will decide which ones are appropriate for that child. Sometimes the teacher will indicate exactly where the mistake has occurred and at other times the teacher will ask the child to look for the mistake (for example writing sp for spelling in the margin or p for punctuation and indicating a particular paragraph). The child will use a green pen to complete an E1 correction so that it is clear in their work.

Improvements (E2)

After every new paragraph written, teachers will mark underneath it with a way the children need to improve it using words E2 followed by either *, ** or ***. This star system will be written on the board so the children can see what they need to do to improve their work.

Codes

Poetry

At Westwood, along with focusing on poetry through reading lessons, we celebrate poetry in a ‘Poetry Week’. During this week the children will write a range of different poems based on the adventure they are doing, focus on poetry during guided reading lessons and work towards a performance of a poem in a poetry celebration assembly.

Assessment

Twice a half term, teachers will assess two pieces of writing that they will assess to see what level the child is working at (in KS2 this may be the two pieces completed that half term). This piece remains in context to the adventure the children are currently working on.

In Year 2 and Year 6, we use the statutory exemplification criteria. In all other years we use an assessment criteria devised from the curriculum. When children have completed their independent writing, teachers will highlight where children have met previous targets, or where they have included some particularly good features or elements. The assessment criteria for the appropriate year group will be ticked off so that teachers can see which elements they are achieving and where the gaps are. From each piece of independent writing, the children will be given a clear target which they should work on over the next few weeks. The target is written in the front of their ‘Best book’ on the Target sheet and at the end of their last piece of writing in their main book book so they can easily remind themselves of it before they start writing again.

SPAG and handwriting

At Westwood we equip the children will all the skills they need to be capable writers. Each year group has a spelling word list, that is taught over the year, taken from the spelling patterns and list of common exception words (as listed in the curriculum). These are taught in weekly blocks and the spellings will be taught regularly throughout the week in short bursts. Children will have a weekly test on the spellings. A whole-school spelling incentive runs alongside the spelling tests. Explicit grammar and punctuation lessons are taught from Year 3 onwards. In LKS2 there will be 2 explicit SPAG lessons per week and for UKS2 there will be 3 per week.

In handwriting, children in Reception and Year 1 focus on accurate letter formation on the line. Children are taught cursive script from the start of Year 2, if they are deemed ready, and are expected to have fluent, cursive, legible and speedy handwriting. There will be daily teaching of handwriting and many opportunities for the children to practise their handwriting (see handwriting policy for further detail).

Writing Curriculum Impact

As a result of well-structured lessons, a clear vision for the subject and quality teaching, children at Westwood will write with confidence and understanding of the purpose, genre and audience. Through the use of assessment, children’s progress will be measured to ensure they are meeting expectations and achieving within the subject.