Writing

Writing at John Perryn

 

Intent

Through a rigorous and sequenced programme of study we aim for all of our children to be able to write independently in a variety of genres and for a range of purposes with fluency, accuracy and enjoyment.  We believe children should understand, from an early age that their writing needs to be accurate, legible, set out in an appropriate way, and use that they should use the Nelson Handwriting scheme to support this.

 

As children progress through the school, they develop an understanding that writing skills are essential to thinking and learning but also enjoyable in their own right.

They learn the main rules and conventions of written English and grammar and begin to explore how the English language can be used to express meaning in different ways.

 

Implementation

Powerful teaching techniques, such as shared and guided writing mean children are exposed to high quality demonstration, exploration and discussion of the choices writers make. Each unit of work is linked to a high quality text that has been chosen specifically by teachers.  As well as being the basis for exploring text before committing to writing, children will have explored vocabulary, explored text through discussion or drama activities and will have a clear purpose for writing. Units are modelled around clear outcomes meaning that each child knows exactly what they must do to be successful in that particular piece of writing.

 

Children use the planning, drafting and editing process to improve their work and alongside effective feedback both written and oral and are encouraged to become reflective, resilient learners.

 

We believe children require a secure understanding of spelling, punctuation and grammar to develop a true understanding of English and to be successful, so these concepts are taught discretely within English lessons in engaging ways.  Any new content is carefully incorporated into modelled writing and referred to in shared writing so children are clear about its purpose and function. It is then included in future units of work – the process of revisiting and building on new content means children have a much better understanding and knowledge is embedded into their long term memory.

 

Speaking and listening

Opportunities to develop and hone children’s oracy skills are embedded not only in the English curriculum but also across the wider curriculum at John Perryn.  Teachers are resourceful in their planning of topics and look to include learning end points involving speaking and listening wherever possible such as through discussions, debates, performances and presentations.  Children practise speaking for a variety of purposes and audiences, adapting their language appropriately as well as their intonation, tone, volume and actions, and are able to work individually or in small or larger groups with peers or older or younger children.

 

Nelson Handwriting

Handwriting is taught through the Nelson scheme of work. The scheme helps children to form letters correctly and then join them up.

Some examples:

 

To find out more about the writing curriculum, please contact either the school office, speak to your child's class teacher or to the writing subject coordinator Ms. Shahid. 

Writing