Values that are at the heart of Thurgoland

#LEARNINGTOGETHERINFAITHANDJOY

Getting here

Thurgoland C of E Primary School
Halifax Road
Thurgoland
Sheffield
S35 7AL

Thurgoland C of E Primary SchoolPrivacy Policy

Writing

Intent

At our school, we strive for all our children to develop into articulate and imaginative communicators who are well-equipped with the basic skills they need to become life-long learners.

Through an enriching text based curriculum, we aim to ensure that all our children develop a genuine love of language and literature by immersing them in a diverse range of high-quality books. Where possible, we make strong links between our reading and writing which we believe allows each child to flourish as an author. We support children’s clear understanding of how widely writing is used in everyday life and therefore how important and useful the skills are that they are learning.

With the National Curriculum at its core, writing is of paramount importance at our school and is supported through a well- mapped out skills and knowledge document that maximise learning for all children at Thurgoland.

We intend for all pupils to become enthusiastic and motivated writers who have the confidence to write in a wide variety of genres and text types. For children to become fluent spellers and see writing as an interesting and enjoyable process as well as write with purpose for an audience and take ownership of their writing and creativity.


Implementation

To meet the National Curriculum Objectives, we base our literacy units on high quality, age-appropriate texts so that children have considerable exposure to the text type as well as having opportunities to magpie words and phrases while they write. The National Curriculum states that spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing and, with oracy being such a high priority for children at Thurgoland Primary School, we provide discussion opportunities into every lesson in all year groups. EYFS and KS1 begin to develop their oracy and writing through Talk through Stories which allow our pupils to extend and deepen their vocabulary through carefully selected texts so that they can understand the books they will soon be able to read for themselves. In KS2, pupils continue this learning journey through high-quality texts which are shared and discussed in daily comprehension lessons.

Writing at Thurgoland is taught explicitly in daily literacy lessons and skills learnt are regularly reinforced across the curriculum. Using a combination of novels, film, poetry and relevant real life events, learning is fun, meaningful and memorable for all pupils.

Having studied different texts, pupils immerse themselves in the language and structure of these to create their own toolkit – an aid to writing. This ensures that language patterns, punctuation and key phrases are internalised by the children so that they become confident and competent writers. Repeated practice of writing genres throughout their primary years ensures that pupils leave our school capable of writing for different audiences and purposes.

Spelling is taught daily outside of literacy lessons and children understand the importance of learning spellings in a memorable and interesting way. A range of strategies throughout the week support pupils in becoming competent lifelong spellers. Accurate spelling is expected in all writing across the curriculum and children are taught and given time to edit their spellings and recognise their own errors. Pupils are supported through key vocabulary lists, modelling and encouraged to use a dictionary and thesaurus during any writing process.

The teaching of grammar and Standard English is an integral part of every writing lesson and across the whole curriculum. Using the National Curriculum, these skills are taught progressively and systematically throughout the school and are linked to genres studied where possible.

We, at Thurgoland Primary, believe that all children are authors and therefore teachers prioritise and model the process of writing within every literacy unit so that children understand the thought process behind writing. Teachers think out loud, edit and demonstrate how and why they have structured their writing in the way that they have. Pupils are then given many opportunities to participate in a shared write, where everybody contributes to the writing outcome before this is scaffolded further into paired, supported and finally independent writing.

Finally, we ensure that every child is able to self-assess, review and edit their own work. This process is modelled regularly by staff and children are expected to make well-thought out changes to their writing from Year 1 through to Year 6. By the end of their primary school journey, children at Thurgoland will transition to secondary school with the ability and confidence to draft, edit and produce final pieces which reflect their skills, knowledge and creativity.

Impact

From the regular monitoring of plans, books and pupil interviews, it is clear that writing is taught in a systematic and progressive way, that prior teaching and learning is considered, and that learning is memorable. Children enjoy talking about their writing – about its construction, purpose and effect on the reader. Staff set high expectations for the children and they are confident to share their writing with adults and each other. As a result of regular modelling, pupils are aware of what it means to be an author and how writing is constructed. All writing is planned with a clear intention and audience and editing ensures that writing is presented at its best. Children achieve well at the end of both Key stages and leave Thurgoland with a secure understanding of writing and are well prepared to meet the needs of a challenging secondary curriculum and the expectations of writing across all subjects. Teachers use assessment statements alongside a range of the child’s writing to monitor progress and assess them at key points throughout the school year.  This information is shared with children and parents three times per academic year. The Writing lead and Head Teacher monitor the teaching and learning of writing frequently to ensure that standards remain consistently high and to identify areas for ongoing CPD.

Useful Documents

Values that are at the heart of Thurgoland

#LEARNINGTOGETHERINFAITHANDJOY

Getting here

Thurgoland C of E Primary School
Halifax Road
Thurgoland
Sheffield
S35 7AL

Thurgoland C of E Primary SchoolPrivacy Policy