Writing at Prince Rock

At Prince Rock Primary School, writing is integral to every element of our curriculum with explicit and intrinsic links made to the teaching of oracy and reading. Our approach to writing aims to instil the importance of transcription and composition as required in the National Curriculum.

We aim to:

• Use a range of writing strategies throughout the school to develop our children’s writing skills which support the depth and breadth of our writing curriculum.
• Use both scheduled and responsive interventions to support all of our children, including those with SEND and EAL.
• Using a LAT wide assessment tool provides us with detailed information about specific weaknesses and difficulties. This allows us to provide high-quality first support through the use of lesson time, as well as the careful scheduling of interventions.

In direct reference to National Curriculum and Ofsted expectations, we will ensure that:

• Pupils acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for writing
• Pupils appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage and apply ideas gathered from their wider reading to their writing.

• Pupils write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• Teachers and teaching assistants provide extra practise through the day for the children who make the slowest progress (the lowest 20%) through responsive and scheduled interventions
• Teachers instil in children a love of writing through fiction, non-fiction and poems

Intent of our Writing Curriculum

Our aim at Prince Rock Primary School is to develop children’s ability to produce well-structured writing with appropriate detail, in which the meaning is clear and the interest of the reader is engaged. Our approach to writing aims to instil the importance of transcription and composition, as required in the National Curriculum.

We want children to:

• Develop understanding and skills to become independent, enthusiastic writers.
• Enjoy using language in different contexts and have the confidence and ability to do so.
• Develop a fluent, legible handwriting style and take care with the presentation of their work.
• Understand the impact their writing has on their audience and write with this in mind.

Implementation of Writing

Throughout the school, teachers are flexible in their selection of teaching models for English but the consistent thread throughout the school is that all classes are taught writing through books. Every class has a novel, or in KS1, a selection of picture books, that are chosen in relation to their topic and demonstrate high-quality language and writing skills. Teachers then plan their genre of writing which builds up to a final piece in this order:

1. Read, respond and understand the text type. The children know this stage of writing as "I do" as the teacher shares models to base their writing upon and teaches the grammar and features needed to produce this piece of writing. 

2. Shared writing: Show and do with you. The children know this stage of writing as "We do" as the teacher models how to create this genre in their own writing, drawing on everything the pupils have learned in the first stage.  

3. Independent writing and application of learnt knowledge and skills. The children know this stage of writing as "You do" as they apply everything they have been taught about this genre of writing to their own independent work.   

Impact of the Writing Curriculum

Assessment for learning is used throughout individual lessons to inform future planning and to identify elements that need to be practised in the revisit section of the following lesson. It also allows for responsive intervention to take place in the afternoon for individual children. Assessment for learning also informs pupil-teacher conferencing sessions to ensure these are tailored and bespoke to each child.

Writing sessions are led by success criteria and writing toolkits, which the children will develop an understanding of throughout the unit they are completing. Pupils are assessed against this success criteria in independent writing and this can take the form of self, peer and teacher assessment.

Whole class feedback is an integral part of our writing assessment and enables the teachers to understand the needs of their whole cohort. Across a term, where writing is not an assessed piece of writing, teachers use a success criteria to create a tally chart for their entire class. This enables them to generate an overall picture of the strengths of their cohort, which can be praised, shared and built upon as well as identifying weaknesses which can be addressed in future lessons and units.

To assess our independent writing, we use the Learning Academies Trust Writing Assessment Tool. This outlines the expected standard for each year group and the purpose of the assessment tool is to support and inform teachers when making judgements on independent writing. Key linked objectives from the National Curriculum have been selected in line with expected outcomes for the end of EYFS, Key Stage 1 and 2 to ensure each year group builds systematically towards these end assessment points. 

In order to measure the impact of our writing provision, we complete regular monitoring and assessment cycles which include

a) Termly Pupil Progress meetings

b) INSIGHT data tracking

c) Baseline writing assessments at the beginning of each year

d) Termly ‘distance writing’ where appropriate

e) The use of LAT writing assessment toolkit

f) LAT-wide moderation meetings

g) Weekly spelling tests

h) Termly spelling and grammar tests.