Writing

Curriculum Intent

At WGPS we believe that all children are capable of producing a high-quality written outcome that reflects the very best they can achieve. We aim to inspire all children to do this by delivering an engaging curriculum with enthusiastic teachers providing all children with the knowledge and tools needed to succeed in all genres of writing as well as developing a genuine love of writing.  We aim to promote the use of standard written and spoken English, provide pupils with a range of strategies to develop accurate spelling skills, develop confident, independent writers who value their own and others writing and develop creativity through writing across the curriculum. Through the use of shared writing and teacher modelling we demonstrate the writing process so pupils learn the journey from gathering ideas, planning, drafting, editing and publishing. We strive to make sure English is a well-loved subject and that all members WGPS speak highly of it.

Curriculum content

Our writing curriculum is based on the National Curriculum objectives and are incorporated into the WGPS year group progression documents.

National curriculum in England: English programmes of study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Curriculum Implementation

• Talk for Writing approach adapted to suit WGPS.

• Whole school long term overview used which maps out skill and genre progression.

• Toolkit progression document used to support planning of skills and knowledge.

• Non-negotiables used in each year group as expectations for all pieces of writing.

• Five 1-hour sessions taught with SPAG incorporated into lesson starters.  

• Weekly spellings introduced in separate sessions.

• Opportunities for writing across the curriculum.

• Cold task used to set targets and learning intentions for the upcoming unit.

• Hot task used to celebrate learning.

• Fiction and non-fiction writing taught over 3.5 weeks.

• 1.5 week of imitation to learn the genre and toolkit including ‘read as a reader’ and ‘read as a writer’
• 1 week of innovation to write a text together with teach modelling being the main focus (SPAG and specific genre toolkit skills developed further)
• 1 week of independent application for children to showcase their learning

• Daily feedback and marking given to pupils so they know next steps as per marking policy (verbal feedback).

• Differentiation provided for pupils who need support or who need to be challenged further.

• During the spring term, ‘a more able writers’ group’ in year 6 is provided to develop skills at a greater depth level.

Curriculum Impact

Our children make good progress in writing and our Key Stage Two outcomes demonstrate that the majority of pupils achieve age related expectations in writing and the school performs broadly in line with national averages.

Written work in children's learning books demonstrate the impact of the English learning journey, drafting and writing process at WGPS.

Our children enjoy writing and are able to talk creatively and technically about the writing process. 

Assessment Information

Writing is assessed formatively by teachers with regular verbal and written feedback given to children to develop their learning. Each unit of work is planned for with the aim of a high-quality written outcome being produced. Teachers are then able to assess these 'hot tasks' to identify how much progress the children have made from the original 'cold task'. These extended pieces of writing are also assessed against year group expectations.