English - Writing

"If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do the thinking for them"

Eric Blair (George Orwell)

Intent

The fundamental purpose for teaching writing at St Francis de Sales is encapsulated in Orwell's view. Our curriculum is designed so that all pupils can use the knowledge they have learnt to: develop as creative, independent writers; form and articulate their own ideas; appreciate writing as an enjoyable pastime; inspire further study of the subject and improve pupils’ lives as active members of society.

Our writing curriculum’s deliberately ambitious design allows all pupils to develop their independent writing for different purposes and audiences. It is comprehensive but necessarily selective, ensuring that pupils understand how to adapt their style, language and vocabulary appropriately for the context. We place a strong emphasis upon the development of vocabulary, which provides children with a word-rich diet that they can apply across the curriculum.

Our 'Process for Writing' provides a systematically sequenced structure with opportunities to acquire genre-specific knowledge and grammar; develop oracy skills; and organise texts coherently. To begin, pupils produce a diagnostic baseline assessment of their individual starting point, including their prior knowledge, strengths and misconceptions, which are used to inform planning. Next, pupils deconstruct high-quality texts to learn from their structure, grammar, syntax and vocabulary. Finally, pupils use their acquired knowledge to produce an independent piece of writing with a purposeful and 'real-life' context. Through the teaching of spelling and handwriting, pupils are not limited by their inability to write quickly and accurately to clearly communicate their ideas.

Our curriculum provides a challenging and creative outlet for our pupils to express themselves effectively. It sets them up for a life-long love and understanding of integral language knowledge that will enable them to participate fully in society, which we know is fundamental in actively reducing the risks of them being disenfranchised.

Planning:

Essential Knowledge:

Cohesion Strategy:

Coherence is strengthened through our five essentials: Acquisition & Retention of Knowledge (features of genres and genre-specific grammar; planning and organising ideas to write, knowing the purpose and audience; spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence construction, teaching pupils how to plan, draft, edit and publish written work), Enriching Experiences (purposeful writing, trips and becoming published authors), Independence (independent work), Oracy (rehearsing and practising sentences before writing) and Understanding (pupil's final assessed piece of writing and application of their learning to Writing across our curriculum). Our curriculum ensures all pupils develop both competence and confidence in Writing, fostering a love of learning that endures beyond the classroom.

Implementation

We ensure that the teaching of writing reflects our context by ensuring it is purposeful, robust and shows clear progression for all children.

During Writing lessons, pupils acquire the knowledge in composition, grammar and punctuation, which has genre-specific objectives at its core. We consider our teachers as the best model of excellent practice, who ignite passion, creativity and a love of writing into their lessons.

We have high aspirations that all pupils become confident, independent writers. Our adaptive learning strategies ensure that pupils are not restricted by artificial barriers and open-ended questions are posed at different stages of their learning to deepen and extend thinking. We further support some learners with timely, effective interventions using formative assessment so that misconceptions can be addressed and prior learning revisited to allow them to succeed regardless of their starting point.

Writing is strengthened and enriched by creating purposeful opportunities to inspire our outcomes. Pupils are given a 'real-life' purpose for their writing - whether this linked to learning in other curriculum areas, trips or links with local businesses and charities. This enriches pupils’ understanding, motivates our pupils and broadens their cultural capital.

The knowledge used in writing lessons are applied across all other curriculum subjects. This allows the acquired knowledge to be practised and consolidated in new contexts, which is a true, objective indicator of a pupil’s understanding.

Impact

Formative Assessment used by Classroom Teachers

Writing Lead uses QLA from end of KS2 data to inform whole school targets and planning
Topics begin with a diagnostic baseline assessment of the pupil's individual starting point. This task identifies a pupil's weaknesses and individual targets. These are referred to explicitly during teaching and learning, alongside intervention at the point of learning.
Topics end with an independent piece of writing. Pupils use the knowledge that they have acquired and apply it in a different context. This provides an objective measure of progress from the initial baseline assessment.
Pupils’ ‘Publishing Book’ builds a narrative of progress over time, which teachers can use formatively to inform planning.

Summative Assessment by Class Teachers and Writing Lead

Independent writing is assessed termly using Teacher Assessment Frameworks that have been developed to support teachers making judgements.
Writing is moderated between and across year groups by teachers and the Writing Lead
Writing is cross-moderated externally in collaboration with local schools
At the end of each year, moderated independent writing in narrative and non-fiction forms our Golden Thread. This demonstrates the progression of pupils’ knowledge from their starting point in Year 3 to their final KS2 end point.

Rigorous Monitoring by Writing Lead and SLT

Termly book reviews ensure quality and consistency between the year group and whole school cohesion. They ensure the Marking and Feedback Policy is being followed consistently.
Learning walks and observations provide feedback to teachers to move their practice forward; directing them towards in-house coaching or CPD.

Feedback from Stakeholders

Annual teacher voice surveys are used critically to make changes to planning or to develop teachers’ professionally.
Annual pupil interviews allow pupils to talk about their progress, enjoyment and understanding.
Parent feedback enables us to offer training to the wider community to support children at home.