Writing at St Thomas'
Intent - Our Vision for Writing
At St Thomas’, we believe good teaching of phonics, reading and handwriting combine to produce confident writers. We want all our children to be able to confidently communicate their knowledge and ideas through their writing. Writing is taught in whole class lessons so that all children have access to the age-related skills and knowledge contained in the National Curriculum. Writing at St Thomas' is taught in whole class lessons so that all children have access to the age-related skills and knowledge contained in the National Curriculum.
We will ensure:
- Every child is guided and nurtured on their own personal journey to become a successful writer.
- All children are given exciting and purposeful writing opportunities that engage them
- All children will acquire a wide vocabulary and be able to spell new words by effectively applying the spelling patterns and rules they learn throughout their time in primary school.
- All children have a clear understanding of grammar and apply it effectively to their writing.
- Children write clearly, accurately and coherently.
- Children have the necessary tools to adapt their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
- All children are encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, by developing a legible handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school.
Implementation - How we plan for, and teach Writing
At St Thomas’, we follow the 'I Am a Clever Writer' approach for teaching writing which is a systematic, step by step approach. It exposes children to new skills whilst constantly embedding skills already taught. This approach allows us to inspire the children with well-chosen texts that link to our learning across the curriculum, while developing the children’s grammar skills and composition.
Through following this approach, our children can confidently talk about what they need to include in their writing in order to be successful.
Our teachers create their own WAGOLLs based on the stimulus text, to model to the children ‘What a Good One Looks Like’. These are produced for both fiction and non-fiction sequences of learning. Through exploring the WAGOLL each day, the children are exposed to the skills and features they will be including in their work.
Another key element of ‘I am a Clever Writer’ is our class Working Walls. Each unit will build over the course of one or two weeks, and the working wall will build alongside this. This will display high level vocabulary, a range of openers and any specific skills we are working on. It may also contain a story map or flowchart to support the children in building their writing, whether it be fiction or non-fiction. Class working walls are always interactive and are produced through class discussion.
Over the course of the year, each class builds up a ‘writers’ checklist’ that helps the children to understand how to write for different purposes and audiences. ‘I am a Clever Writer’ provides children with the tools to self-evaluate their writing and ensures that children are aware of their own steps to success, holding them to account. New skills will be added to the checklist throughout the year, allowing children to always embed previously taught skills alongside new skills.
Each teacher has access to both grammar and skills progression documents to ensure that all children are being challenged to succeed at the appropriate level. The approach makes use of Assessment for Learning (AfL) to drive our English lessons and ensure children make maximum progress. It identifies the precise steps that children need to take to improve their writing. Paired with this is a focus on live marking which supports children to up level their work as they are writing, considering what improvements can be made.
‘I am a Clever Writer’ brings together all areas of learning in English, including composition, grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting and through this, we can meet the needs of all our learners, whatever their individual strengths and needs.
At the end of each sequence of lessons, which usually lasts around a week, the children take part in an extended writing activity on a text type. This is our 'Star Write' and the different aspects of spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary taught during the week should be evident in the children’s extended writing. These strands are taught to match the curriculum for each year group, becoming increasingly complex over the course of the year as the children become more highly skilled. This allows teachers to teach specific skills discretely and ensure they are layered to give our children the tools they need to become confident writers.
Impact - How we evaluate learning in Writing
The writing journey that children take as they move through St Thomas’ ensures they can successfully develop their composition (ideas) and transcription (spelling and handwriting). Rigorous teacher assessments and responsive teaching allow us to identify next steps for the children and the school.
Monitoring is regularly carried out by the subject leader and the senior leadership team. This monitoring and evaluation cycle is mainly done by book looks, learning walks, and analysis of data. The children at St Thomas’ thoroughly enjoy showing their work to classroom visitors and they show confidence and pride in their learning.
If you want to find out more about the Clever Writer approach, click on the link below: