English - Writing

Unlocking the writer in every child!

Intent

At St Columba’s, we recognise that a strong foundation in English not only supports academic success but also enables our pupils to become thoughtful, purposeful communicators who can use their gifts to serve others and glorify God. We believe that language is a powerful gift from God, and we strive to prepare children with the essential writing skills they will need throughout life. Through an enriched and engaging English curriculum, our children learn to write with clarity, creativity and purpose across all subjects, using their talents to make a positive impact in the world around them. We aim to instil in our pupils a deep respect for the written and spoken word, encouraging them to use language to uplift, inspire and act justly. By exploring a variety of texts and writing experiences, children develop strong literacy skills while also learning to express kindness, honesty and the values taught in the Gospel.

Implementation

Handwriting

Cursive handwriting teaches pupils to join letters in words as a series of continuous flowing movements or patterns and children are taught cursive handwriting from Reception onwards. Words can be written without taking the pencil off the page. Continuous style provides a directional left, right movement. This flowing, rhythmical movement aids speed and fluency particularly when practised from Foundation level with the final product being neat and fast. This cursive style also lessens the chance of reversing letters by eliminating the need to lift the pencil between letters. The spaces between words become distinct and distinction between upper and lower case is clearer. Pupils with specific learning disabilities find continuous cursive useful because the pencil stays on the page throughout every word, thus simplifying the movement. Children with motor problems learn a series of easy, rhythmical movements, which help to improve fine motor co-ordination.

Spelling

At St Columba’s, we believe that spelling has a direct effect upon progress in all other areas of the curriculum and is crucial to developing a child’s confidence, motivation and self-esteem. We provide children with a range of spelling strategies throughout school which cater for different learning style. Early spelling is taught through phonic work in Early Years, Foundation and Key Stage 1 using Letters and Sounds. As children move from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2, the emphasis shifts from the teaching of phonics to more focused teaching of spelling strategies, conventions and rules to build upon the children’s established phonic knowledge. However, phonic support and intervention is still provided in Key Stage 2 to those children who need it. School has also implemented the Read Write Inc. Spelling scheme for years 2 to 6 which is for the explicit teaching and learning of spelling rules. Once children have been taught the rules, they can then use them in their writing.

Writing Process

Each unit of writing will consist of learning done through a 2 week learning journey and will be done through 1 hour lessons each day from Monday to Friday. This is in order to ensure that the build-up of knowledge and skills is progressive and clear. Although the pedagogical process is detailed for each lesson, teachers have the professional scope to make adjustments where they think they are needed. For example, if more than one lesson is needed to embed a skill then this can be done or if an extra lesson is needed for drama/speaking and listening then teachers have the freedom to do so. Each stage of the learning process is evident through books, learning environment, planning and pupil voice discussions. Learning journeys are usually based on high quality texts but we also use videos, real life events, images or lyrics from a song (anything that might get the children excited about writing).

Impact

The children will:

understand the writing process
be able to identify the audience, purpose and tone of their writing
be able to link their writing to high quality texts
be able to effectively edit their writing
have high aspirations and take pride in their writing.