At St. Sebastian’s, we aim to provide children with the confidence and competence to produce high quality writing that they are proud of. Strong writing is key to academic success as many areas of the curriculum are assessed through writing. Good writing also gives children a voice to share their ideas with the world.

Implementation

Our children are encouraged to write from a very early age and within our EYFS Unit there are many opportunities both indoors and outdoors for children to mark make and begin their writing experience. Our aim is for children to be able to focus on the content of their writing from Year 2 onwards rather than on the mechanics of handwriting. We introduce a pre-cursive script from Reception which is modelled and practised throughout all year groups in our school. We believe good presentation skills are important as we want children to value their own work and for others to do the same.

From EYFS, we follow the progressive teaching sequence of immerse, analyse and write. The children are immersed in our carefully chosen high-quality texts which allow them to read and analyse the language skills of an expert writer and use this as a model for their writing. Our text-based approach gives children the opportunity to explore and write in a variety of genres, both fiction and non-fiction. Writing skills are progressively sequenced, drawing and building upon prior knowledge from Foundation through to Year 6. We ensure our discrete English lessons as well as our daily basic skills sessions allow children to continuously practise and apply newly acquired skills in handwriting, composition, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation.

We want children to have an understanding that writing has a real purpose and that word choice and style can bring about change. Foundation subject co-ordinators and class teachers have worked together to ensure our wider curriculum provides regular opportunities for children to further practise and apply their writing skills.

From an early stage there is a progressive emphasis on the skills of planning, drafting and editing pieces of work. Opportunities for this are planned daily and children are encouraged to take an increased responsibility for proofreading for mistakes and editing their work as they progress through school.

Children’s writing is celebrated and displayed around our school throughout the year. For example, Working Walls, Writer of the Month, themed days in the school calendar and wider curriculum opportunities. We encourage our children to regard themselves as writers, associating writing with being of high importance and a necessary lifelong skill which they should enjoy.

Impact

We believe our children will:

• Acquire a well-developed and well-presented cursive handwriting style
• Be able to demonstrate a clear progression of writing skills and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar and punctuation.
• Develop the ability to write for sustained periods of time
• Use spelling, punctuation and grammar accurately and confidently in all pieces of writing
• Develop the ability to plan, draft and edit their work effectively
• Demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding by writing effectively for a range of audiences and purposes
• Write accurately, coherently and imaginatively, adapting their language and style for different areas of the curriculum.
• Become more confident writers with a sense of enjoyment and creativity in their writing