Christ Church CE Primary School
'Let your light shine' Matthew 5:16
The study of English at Christ Church helps our children understand how language works across the whole of our school curriculum by looking at its structures, origins, subject-specific vocabulary and patterns. Using this knowledge, our children can choose and adapt what they write in differing situations to help make their own lives; and those of others’, better. At Christ Church, we strive to instil a love of language into the hearts and minds of all our pupils. We find that children’s writing is enriched when pupils are exposed to a wide range of stories and genres of writing; such as the reading spine; this in turn helps develop a structure to build upon and leads to a discovery of powerful and exciting vocabulary.
We love to think about why authors have chosen the words that they have used. We believe it
is important that children see their work as having real purpose and that they regard
themselves as authors to a variety of audiences.
We intend to:
To create confident writers who develop stamina for writing throughout school and are able to write at length.
For all of our children to be independent writers, building on a range of skills as they work
through each journey of writing.
That all of our children are exposed to high quality texts that model excellent writing practises across a broad range of genres.
For our children to have a secure understanding of the purpose of a text type, the purpose and intended impact of writing skills/tools and the ability to carefully select vocabulary with focus on the desired effect on the readers’ thoughts and feelings so that the impact of their writing is positive.
Ensure that all pupils know how to plan, practise, evaluate their work as well as carry out an effective edit and improvement process using feedback from the teacher.
That our children are challenged and encouraged to take risks and view mistakes as a positive part of the learning process.
To celebrate writing at each stage through the learning process to encourage children to take pride in their work.
To provide a rich and broad curriculum, which encompasses writing practice and equips children with the skills and knowledge of writing processes including handwriting, spelling, grammar, widening vocabulary and writing for different styles.
To be inclusive of all children, including SEND by providing the appropriate scaffolding, support and writing tools those children need in their writing process to experience success.
That our children have high expectations of themselves where they take pride in all aspects of learning and in everything they produce.
Spelling
Children are taught spellings in an interactive way through a variety of activities. In Reception and KS1, they use daily phonic lessons to revisit, practice and apply new sounds. From Year 1, children are taught spelling rules. The spellings and rules being taught are displayed clearly in the classrooms and are referred to by adults and children during writing sessions.
Handwriting
The teaching of handwriting skills starts in EYFS where activities are provided to develop the gross and fine motor skills needed when beginning to write letters. Mark making is highly valued and a wide range of tools and contexts encourages children to experiment with it. They also regularly complete pencil control tasks.
From Y1 onwards children are taught to write through regular handwriting sessions using cursive style handwriting. Those who need to develop their motor skills or letter formation are identified for intervention groups across year groups giving focused support. A variety of pencil grips is also available to aid pencil grip and writing.
Grammar
Grammar is taught discretely throughout the school in isolated lessons. Once an aspect of grammar has been taught it is then modelled through shared writing, guided writing and independent writing and referred to in every writing lesson. Children revisit grammar that has already been taught to ensure they have chance to practise and extend their learning.
Teaching approaches
Throughout the school, children have the opportunity to take part in shared, guided and independent writing sessions in all writing genres and across the curriculum.
Writing and reading are closely linked and we ensure that children are reading daily in order to
build on their knowledge of different genres of writing and develop their vocabulary. Throughout
the school, children are immersed in the language of quality texts which provide hooks, or
reasons to write as well as providing new vocabulary, language patterns or text structures which
will be used in children’s own writing.
The Talk for Writing approach is used in every class to help prepare children by using oral rehearsal of text. They then move onto modelled writing, where sentence structure and grammar are also a focus before working on shared writing. Children then have the opportunity to write independently, where they are also taught the skills of proofreading and editing their work.
The impact on our children is that they have the knowledge and skills to be able to write successfully for a purpose and audience. By the end of Key Stage 2 children have developed a writers craft, they enjoy sustained writing and can manipulate language, grammar and punctuation to create effect.
Assessment in writing is ongoing as teachers carry out in-depth assessment of children’s writing at the end of each unit.
Progress across classes is closely monitored by the subject leader and senior leadership team. Monitoring will include: regular book looks, lesson observations, gathering evidence of good practice, pupil voice interviews, and regular learning walks.
The findings of this monitoring will be used to inform next steps for the children and the implementation of writing across the school as a whole.