At Sunny Bank, we believe that an engaging, quality English curriculum should ignite our children’s love of communicating and expressing their ideas in all contexts and as a result, articulating this in a clear and accurate form of writing. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are vital for developing their vocabulary and grammar. This will inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening which will feed into their understanding of written language. We strive to provide meaningful writing opportunities for a range of audiences and purposes which will ensure that children develop essential communication skills, become reflective learners and develop emotional intelligence.  

The writing curriculum in all stages is underpinned by termly high-quality texts, language rich environments and high-quality discussion.  

implementation 

EYFS 

• Writing is taught through discrete Monster Phonics Sessions and through literacy lesson linked to the weekly text. 

• The learning environment is deliberately planned to encourage children to practice their writing skills in all areas of play to learn, child-initiated activities and to see themselves as writers.  

• Fine motor activities are deliberately planned to ensure that children develop the skills that they need to become proficient writers and children take part in daily gross motor activities. 

• Daily handwriting practice, to support letter formation. 

KS1 and KS2 

• In order for children to be able to write for a range of purposes and audiences, our children are taught to write in different genres which are mapped across the different terms.  

• We use a blend of talk for writing and power of reading to ensure that there is systematic development of practice inspired by high quality texts. 

• Each unit of writing starts with a WAGOL (what a good one looks like). 

• To prepare the children to write in the different genres Children are immersed in the WAGOL. They explore: 

• Specific vocabulary  

• Specific grammar and punctuation  

• Structure  

• Devices 

• Impact on audience   

• Spellings are taught weekly, and spellings are sent home and children are assessed weekly through spelling tests as well as through their writing. 

• Grammar is taught discretely within classes as well as being woven through the writing lessons. 

• Children are given specific targets for writing and once per week the literacy lesson consists of a reflection upon targets session where children can reflect on the learning so far, edit and improve any work, teachers can pupil conference with pupils and address any misconceptions so that children KEEP UP NOT CATCH UP. 

Assessment:

• All on a page assessments for every child.  

• Writing in all curriculum subjects is used as assessments.  

• NFER testing 3 times per year in Years 3, 4 and 5 for GPAS. 

• SATs testing in Year 2 and 6 for GPAS.  

• All on a page assessments for every child.