Queen Edith Community
Primary School
WRITING
POLICY
June 2011
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Queen Edith Community Primary School Writing Policy
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Key Statements about Writing
3. Aims of the Teaching of Writing
4. Contexts for the Teaching and Learning of Writing
5. Writing in the EYFS
6. Writing in KS1 (Shared, Guided & Independent)
7. Writing in KS2 (Shared, Guided & Independent)
8. Grammar & Punctuation
9. Spelling
10. Handwriting
11. Assessment for Learning
12. Assessment & Record Keeping
13. Literacy & ICT
14. Differentiation
15. Equal Opportunities
16. Parent Partnership
17. Conclusion
Appendices
1. Introduction
At Queen Edith, we view the acquisition of language skills to be of the utmost
importance and so the teaching of all aspects of English is given high priority. Writing is
integral to our children’s whole language experience; it is a crucial part of thinking and
learning. This policy outlines the purpose, nature and management of the teaching of
writing at Queen Edith Primary School. It states how we deliver the writing elements of
the English National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage. It also explains
how we use the Renewed Primary Framework for Literacy flexibly, alongside other
approaches, to ensure that our children develop as confident, capable and enthusiastic
writers. Appendix A, ‘Writing at Queen Edith’, summarises many of the key messages in
this policy in a quick-reference guide for staff.
2. Key Statements about Writing
The following statements are central to our view of writing development. At Queen Edith
we believe that:
Speaking and listening with confidence are significant factors in developing
effective writing
Reading and writing are closely connected and mutually supportive; we read as
writers and write as readers
Writing is a craft and most children learn best through their own writing, rather
than through exercises out of context
Writing is best framed within recognisable text-types or genres
Writing should be designed to meet the needs of real or imagined audiences
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Writing tasks should be prepared through preliminary talk and teachers should
model writing for their pupils when appropriate
Children should be given the opportunity to collaborate with other children both to
compose and to revise their writing
Writing skills can be improved through reflection
Children should be closely involved in assessing their own development as
writers
More effective writing is dependent upon increasingly informed grammatical and
linguistic choices
The teacher’s response to the child’s composition (e.g. praising aspects of the
content) is crucial in developing confidence and motivation
The skills of transcription (i.e. handwriting, punctuation and spelling) must be
thoroughly planned for and taught
ICT can be used as an inspiring stimulus for writing and to enable children to
author their own multimedia texts
3. Aims of the Teaching of Writing
In our teaching of writing, we aim for all children to:
Appreciate that writing is a universal method of communication
View writing as a process over which they have control
Enjoy playing with language and write for pleasure
Write appropriately for specific real or imaginary audiences
Write for a variety of purposes
Make judgements about the tone, style, format and vocabulary appropriate to the
writing’s purpose, audience and genre
Write clearly, legibly and accurately with attention to punctuation, spelling and
grammar
Recognise that drafting, incorporating significant revision into their writing and
proof-reading are integral parts of the writing process
Achieve independent writing of a high quality
4. Contexts for the Teaching and Learning of Writing
Writing is taught and learnt in specific meaningful and effective contexts. These include:
Shared and guided reading
Complementary sentence and word-level activities
Modelled and shared writing
Guided writing
Independent or paired writing
Sharing and reflecting on their writing
Cross-curricular writing tasks e.g. in project work or science
To support children in the acquisition of writing skills we will:
Provide frequent opportunities to write
Promote an awareness of adults writing in a variety of contexts for many purposes
Provide regular demonstrations of the writing process
Model, draft and discuss many aspects of writing with children
Provide opportunities to reflect on the writing process
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Give children time to refine their writing through editing and revising
Provide children with opportunities to share their writing
Set individual targets for writing and assist children in reviewing their targets (and
setting personal ones where appropriate)
Encourage children to take responsibility for their own writing development and
progress
Surround children with a print-rich environment that they have helped to create
Reward and celebrate children’s efforts and achievements in writing
Teach ICT skills that support effective and efficient electronic communication
Within this writing environment, the close relationship between writing and reading
needs to be exploited. We will provide a wide variety of texts which cater for children’s
diverse interests and needs, and act as a stimulus to their own writing.
5. Writing in the Early Years Foundation Stage
In the Early Years, children are encouraged to attempt their own emergent writing and
their efforts are valued and praised. As their phonic knowledge increases, this will be
reflected in their writing. At the same time, their knowledge of key words is supported
through reading and writing activities, including shared reading and writing.
A wide variety of opportunities are provided for children to engage in writing activities.
Amongst these are:
Shared writing
Role-play (e.g. an office or restaurant)
Labels
Recipes
Lists
Making books
Writing letters
Menus
Through engaging in these activities, children become aware that writing is used for a
range of purposes. They distinguish it from drawing, and learn the left to right
convention of writing in English.
A variety of resources are used to encourage the development of the fine motor control
which is essential for good handwriting. These include playdough, cutting, threading and
tracing. CUP’s Penpals software is used as a versatile resource to promote these motor
skills and the correct pencil grip and formation of letters.
Fine motor skills are also a focus in motor skills groups targeted at specific children.
Gross motor skills are also developed through these groups (as well as in PE), as upper
body strength is recognised as being vital to good fine motor skills.
6. Writing in Key Stage 1
a) Shared Writing
Through shared writing the teacher demonstrates specific writing skills, sometimes
acting as scribe. The basics of how to form a letter, spell a word, leave a space or put in
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a full stop are demonstrated, followed later by the more sophisticated strategies of
modelling the planning, drafting or proof-reading of writing. The teacher may also
demonstrate writing in a particular genre. Shared writing will teach children how to:
Generate imaginative and informative ideas through discussion and questioning,
and record these ideas in notes/ plans/ drafts
Structure ideas in writing through the use of appropriate language, sentence
structure, punctuation, sequencing and lay-out
Develop specific word level skills of spelling, handwriting and punctuation
Refine writing to make it clearer and better suited to its audience and purpose
Develop technical terms and vocabulary for understanding and discussing writing
Publish and present written texts for others to read and use
b) Guided Writing
Guided writing sessions are used flexibly to provide a bridge between shared and
independent work. During these sessions the teacher or TA may scribe for specific
children or support children writing independently or in pairs. They may focus on:
Planning a piece of writing
Supporting work in progress
Evaluating and improving writing
c) Independent Writing
Children will be given frequent opportunities to write independently so that the skills
demonstrated during shared writing and supported during guided writing will be
transferred into their own writing.
Since accurate, fluent and independent writing is dependent on a secure grasp of
phonics, a high priority is placed throughout EYFS and KS1 on daily systematic phonics
teaching (based on the ‘Letters and Sounds’ programme). This gives children the strong
and essential foundation upon which all their future development as writers will be built.
As in the Foundation Stage, CUP’s Penpals programme is used (alongside other
resources) to promote correctly formed and increasingly fluent handwriting, including
joining from Y1. Basic punctuation is also a particular focus in order to develop this
essential skill of effective writing.
Motor skills continue to be developed through targeted small groups as necessary.
7. Writing in Key Stage 2
a) Shared Writing
Through shared writing the teacher will model the writing process with the children. This
may include:
Demonstrating planning strategies (e.g. brainstorming, concept maps, writing
frames)
Using a familiar text as a starting point for writing
Teaching the structural characteristics of a particular text type
Teaching the purpose and use of punctuation
Playing with language and exploring different language choices
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Modelling higher level sentence constructions (e.g. connectives, complex
sentences)
Drafting
Demonstrating revision strategies (e.g. checking for meaning, reordering to
improve structure, rewriting to improve clarity or to enrich language)
Demonstrating editing strategies (e.g. checking punctuation and spelling, using
writing targets).
At times, there may be extended shared writing sessions, exploring the composition
process together in some detail. However, it will often be most effective if shared writing
is broken up into chunks and interspersed with opportunities for the children to apply the
lessons immediately in their own writing. Sometimes modelling just a sentence or two
will be sufficient. This approach can maximise learning opportunities, allow teachers to
respond to children’s misconceptions or difficulties, and avoid the risk of over-loading
the children.
b) Guided Writing
During guided writing the teacher as ‘expert’ guides learners at an appropriate level by:
Giving feedback on previously composed independent writing
Modelling how to use individual writing targets or comment constructively on
another writer’s work
Demonstrating a specific stage in the writing process
Developing or reinforcing skills taught in shared writing
Teachers will plan guided writing sessions flexibly, where they feel they will best meet
the needs of their class. At other times, teachers may instead support children
individually during their independent writing.
c) Independent Writing
During independent writing the children compose without direct teacher support. As
children move through KS2, they will be expected to write regularly and at increasingly
greater length, developing crucial writing stamina alongside other skills. Independent
writing, both within Literacy lessons and across the curriculum will involve:
Using the imagination and expressing ideas
Applying skills learned in shared writing and guided writing
Focusing on individual writing targets
Revising work in the light of feedback from teachers or peers
Commenting constructively on other children’s writing
Editing and proof-reading to improve transcriptional features
Preparing work for presentation
8. Grammar and Punctuation
Aspects of grammar and punctuation are best taught in the context of real reading and
writing activities, rather than through isolated exercises. This gives children the
opportunity to see the relevance of sentence-level work and how real writers make such
choices to help them communicate clearly. Sentence-level teaching is most effective
when it is short, sharp and frequent, incorporated perhaps as a lesson starter or in the
context of shared writing. Word and sentence games encourage children to enjoy
playing with language and to experiment with different constructions that they may then
apply in their independent writing.
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For some years, sentence-level teaching and learning at Queen Edith has been
influenced by Ros Wilson’s VCOP approach. According to Wilson, as children make
progress as writers, they need to develop 4 key elements of their writing that are
transferable across all writing genres. These are:
Vocabulary (making ambitious language choices, carefully selecting
adjectives, adverbs and verbs for specific purposes)
Connectives (using a range of conjunctions/connectives to form complex
sentences)
Openers (starting sentences in different ways, including using adverbs, time
phrases and ‘ing’ clauses)
Punctuation (steadily broadening the range of punctuation used, exemplified
in the ‘Punctuation Pyramid’)
These key elements form the acronym VCOP and are used as the basis for our
sentence-level teaching. In Years 1-4, teachers use these ideas to focus their sentencelevel work with their classes. From Year 5 upwards, the VCOP acronym is used formally
with the children and they begin to use it explicitly to develop their own writing.
The school has several of Ros Wilson’s books available for staff to read in order to
understand the approach more fully. The DFES Talk for Writing materials and books by
Pie Corbett are also a useful source of ideas for language and sentence-level games.
Accuracy in basic punctuation (capital letters and full stops) is given a high priority
throughout the school, until it becomes completely automatic. Explicit teaching may be
needed, even for older children, on what a sentence is and how to punctuate it
accurately. Teaching approaches may include:
using coloured highlighters to draw attention to punctuation errors so that
children can correct them
asking children to read out a sentence or paragraph with the punctuation
verbalised so that others begin to see where it should go
focused punctuation exercises where full stops and capital letters need to be
added
using a plenary for children to re-read and correct missing capital letters or full
stops, perhaps in pencil or a different colour.
Until basic punctuation becomes totally secure, children in KS2 will have this included
as part of their individual writing targets. Teachers may also want to avoid teaching
higher level forms of punctuation until the basics are secure, to allow the children to
focus their attention on this crucial skill.
When children become more mature writers and reach level 4 and beyond, a key focus
will need to be on developing their understanding and use of commas. To make comma
‘rules’ easy to remember, we teach explicitly the key contexts in which they are used:
in a list
after an opener
with a connective
around a ‘sandwich’ phrase (‘The boy, who was really short, couldn’t reach.’)
with an ‘ing’ clause (‘The boy jumped up, trying to reach the top shelf.’)
Once again, this is best practised through regular short sentence-building activities (oral
and written), and then applied in the children’s own independent writing.
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9. Spelling
Through the carefully planned and progressive teaching of spelling, we aim:
To encourage children to become confident and competent spellers
To teach children spelling strategies relevant to their developmental stage
To help children to understand that there are spelling patterns and rules which can
be learnt
The Renewed Primary Framework provides the basis for the teaching of spelling.
Through regular, focused teaching of spelling, children will be taught to:
Identify sounds in spoken words (phonological awareness)
Recognise the common spellings for each phoneme (phoneme/ grapheme
correspondence)
Blend phonemes into words for reading
Segment words into phonemes for spelling
Acquire a knowledge of high frequency ‘tricky’ words
Identify onsets and rimes as an aid to spelling
Investigate and learn spelling conventions and rules
Attempt a spelling before checking with the teacher
Identify mis-spelt words in their own writing, keep individual lists and learn to spell
these words
Develop and use independent spelling strategies
Use a variety of dictionaries and thesauruses to support their work
In the Foundation Stage, children are encouraged to make their own marks as the
beginning of learning to write and spell. As they progress, they may have their ideas for
writing scribed by an adult and they may occasionally copy this writing. As they begin to
learn initial letter sounds, they start to use this knowledge in their emergent writing.
Gradually they learn to identify and record final and medial sounds.
Throughout the EYFS and KS1, systematic daily phonics teaching takes place to ensure
that children develop a secure grounding in phonics knowledge upon which their future
progress in spelling will be based. This teaching is based on the ‘Letters and Sounds’
programme and may be supplement by other small group or 1-1 interventions for
children who require additional support (e.g. 5 minute box).
In KS2, whilst many children will have acquired strong phonics skills, others will need
continued, intensive 1-1 phonics support (through programmes such as Direct Phonics
and the 5-minute Box). These interventions are vital to ensuring that all children acquire
these crucial building blocks and do not have their writing progress held back. Many
children, particularly in Middle Years, will also benefit from periodic revisiting of the
higher-level phonics stages (especially the spelling of long vowel phonemes) to ensure
that they are totally secure. Lesson starters or early work can be good contexts for
whole-class phonics revision.
Appendix B, ‘The Queen Edith Spelling Programme’, outlines the key stages and most
common spelling patterns that children will need to acquire on their personal
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developmental journey in spelling. It provides a quick-reference guide for staff, based on
the Literacy Leader’s close analysis of our annual NFER spelling assessments.
Much useful teaching of spelling on a one to one basis can take place while children
write. At all times, children are encouraged to develop confidence in their increasing
ability to spell independently.
In KS1, word books may be used for children to ‘have a go’ at spelling words of which
they are unsure. The teacher responds by ticking a correct word or taking the
opportunity to remind the child of a spelling pattern/mnemonic etc. for the particular
word.
In KS2, children are encouraged to ‘have a go’ at spellings they are unsure of so that
seeking the correct spelling does not unhelpfully slow down their composition. Teachers
may encourage children to underline a word that they have attempted but are unsure of,
so that they can check it when marking the work. Marking of writing may also identify 23 key words that the child needs to learn to spell, targeting particularly words/spelling
patterns that have recently been taught. As the child’s spelling competence develops,
use of a dictionary will become more frequent to check spellings, though it is important
that the child can use a dictionary quickly so that fluent writing is not impeded.
From Year 1, weekly spelling lists will be given based on the school’s spelling
programme and matched to a child’s level of develop. The DFES ‘Spelling Bank’ and
‘Support for Spelling’ resources provide a useful source of words and word families.
These words will be tests weekly and children will be taught strategies for learning
spellings effectively (e.g. LSCWC: Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check). A guidance leaflet
has also been produced to help parents practise spellings with their children.
Throughout the school, teaching spelling patterns at the same time as practising
handwriting skills provides useful reinforcement.
10. Handwriting
Aims of Handwriting:
• To understand that each letter has only one correct formation and orientation
• To develop a sense of pride, pleasure and enjoyment in their handwriting
• To adopt fluent, legible and joined handwriting
• To adapt lettering styles for different purposes
The teaching of handwriting will broadly follow the PNS Framework. The use of CUP’s
Penpals software in addition is very supportive and motivating to children. A variety of
aides, such as pencil grips and tracing cards, are available to support handwriting in the
early stages. As correct letter formation and joining become established, the teaching
focuses on consistency in size, shape and general clarity of writing. As pupils’
handwriting skills develop, they are given opportunities to write on narrower lined paper
and develop skills in using guidelines with plain paper. Once pupils establish a fluent,
joined style, they are free to personalise their joined writing.
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Children in KS1 and the Early Years use pencil. In Year 3, children are progressively
introduced to roller ball pens when ready (often through awarding a ‘pen licence’). All
children from Year 4 upwards write in pen. Ballpoint pens are not permitted and we
discourage the use of rubbers.
Cross-curricular opportunities are used to provide real purposes for using handwriting
skills. The motor skills necessary for handwriting will also be developed in Art, D&T and
P.E, as well as in motor skills groups.
Children will need guidance as to the best way to orientate the paper on which they will
be writing, particularly if they are left-handed. Left-handed children should sit on the left
or beside another left-handed child when paired. In addition they may benefit from the
use of a pencil grip.
Particular attention is paid to handwriting in the final draft of a piece of written work,
especially in KS2. All pupils should be using joined writing throughout KS2 and are
taught to print for a purpose in the Later Years.
11. Assessment for Learning
The purpose of assessment for learning is to ensure that children are involved in their
own progress and are motivated to improve their work. Assessment for learning takes
place through the setting of lesson objectives/targets, through questioning, and through
reviewing children’s writing, as a class, 1-1 or in written marking. At all stages, children
will be encouraged to reflect on their progress and whether they have met set targets.
They will be involved in supportive peer assessment as well as in self assessment.
In the Foundation Stage, the child and the teacher read the work together. The teacher
may re-write the child’s attempts underneath as a form of translation, but would not
correct the actual work.
In KS1, much effective marking takes place in the presence of the child so that it is
interactive. However, work is also marked for successes and key areas for
improvement. Recently, target stamps have begun to be used in KS1 to help children
identify a target to focus on in their writing.
In KS2, some discussion will take place with the child about their writing and effective
sentences/paragraphs may be shared and discussed in plenaries. However, work will
usually be marked without the child present. The marking of children’s writing will be
targeted and focussed. The teacher will:
Mark work specifically to the stated learning objective(s)
Make ticks in the text to indicate where that objective has been met
Make specific comments at the foot of the text (where appropriate) to praise and/or
to target future areas for improvement
Ensure that this sharp focus allows flexibility for comments on other aspects of the
child’s work e.g. commenting on handwriting if it is deteriorating or on a child’s
effort to master a skill previously worked on and noted in earlier marking
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Use highlighters, where they deem it useful, to identify key successes in a piece of
writing, or to target specific issues (e.g. basic punctuation errors).
Opportunities for children to focus on marking feedback may occur at the beginning of
the following session or during a small group teaching session.
In 2009, individual writing targets were introduced across KS2. Based on their analysis
of writing assessments, teachers identify 3 key targets for each child to focus on and
provide them on small writing target sheets. These targets must be generic across all
pieces of writing (e.g. use capital letters correctly, use a range of connectives, etc.).
During each piece of writing, children refer to these writing targets in addition to the
objective of the lesson and try to achieve them. At the end of a session, or in a miniplenary, children then assess themselves against their writing targets. They may also be
asked to find examples in their writing to prove that they have reached a target. When
marking work, teachers will then focus on these targets as a key part of their feedback.
Targets will be reviewed regularly by teachers to ensure that they remain suitably
challenging. However, a target may also remain for some time to ensure that a
particular skill is in fact fully embedded (e.g. basic punctuation).
Positive reinforcement is conducted through the use of stars, house points, stickers,
stamps, individual comments, oral praise or inviting the child to share writing during
weekly ‘Sharing Assembly’. Other appropriate rewards are at the teacher’s discretion.
To ensure consistency across the school, phases meet regularly to discuss common
approaches to the marking of writing. There is also a KS2 marking code to provide
consistency in the use of marking symbols:
Sp :
Spelling error (the word may be underlined if deemed necessary)
P :
Punctuation error (the error may be underlined/highlighted if appropriate)
^ :
Word or letter omitted
/ :
New sentence
? :
Writing does not make sense
√ :
Good word or phrase
// :
New paragraph needed
LSCWC: Child to use Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method of learning given
spellings
12. Assessment and Record Keeping
From Reception upwards, children complete a termly piece of independent writing,
which is then leveled using criteria developed by literacy consultant Ros Wilson. This
writing is stored in named wallets in a green class folder alongside all that child’s
previous assessed pieces. The folders then move up through the school with each
class, allowing class teachers and senior leaders to monitor and review a particular
child’s development as a writer over time. Since this system has been in place since
2004, we now have a term-by-term record of the progress of every child up to Year 6
from the time they first joined our school. In Year 6, termly writing assessments
continue, using end of KS2 SAT tasks and criteria to ensure our judgments match
national expectations.
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At present, we have decided not to replace this well-embedded and effective
assessment system with the new APP resources for Writing. However, the Literacy
Leader (also a Leading Literacy Teacher) is experienced with the APP process and
ensures that our school writing assessments match with national standards. The APP
assessment guidelines have also been shared and explored by staff in INSET to help
develop teacher subject knowledge and confidence with understanding levels for
writing.
The results of the termly writing assessments are recorded on a class spreadsheet and
the data is uploaded into our Assessment Manager tracking grids for analysis.
To ensure that our writing assessments are reliable and consistent across the school,
we provide regular opportunities for teachers to discuss, standardise and moderate their
judgements with other colleagues. New staff are inducted into our writing assessment
system by the Literacy Leader, with support from teaching partners. We also hold termly
Phase Assessment Meetings which give opportunities in phase teams to moderate
work, clarify the interpretation of particular assessment criteria, share good practice in
gathering evidence, and identify needs for further professional development. Phase
Leaders lead and minute these meetings, passing on wider school issues to the
Assessment and Literacy Leaders to inform future school development planning. In
addition to these regular meetings, we also hold more periodic whole-staff writing
moderation meetings (November 2008 and 2009) to ensure our judgements are
consistent across phases. In June 2011, the school acquired a new resource ACE:
Assessment Criteria Explained, which provides additional exemplification of the criteria
used in the Ros Wilson assessment system. A key area for future development is to
incorporate more regular dialogue across transition points (especially Reception to Y1,
and Y2 to Y3) in this moderation cycle.
Staff also sometimes have opportunities for moderation with colleagues in other schools
through attending courses, subject leader network meetings, or LA APP moderation
meetings.
Standards of achievement in writing by all our children are constantly monitored and
reviewed by class teachers in conjunction with TAs, the Literacy Leader, SENCo, Phase
Leaders and Headteacher. Further detail of our assessment procedures can be found in
our Assessment Policy.
13. Literacy and Information Communication Technology
At Queen Edith we use ICT as an integral part of our literacy teaching and learning. We
believe that:
A balanced writing curriculum will include opportunities for children to read and
write ICT as well as written texts. Progression in this area is built into the ICT
schemes of work
The IWB provides a range of opportunities for stimulating literacy teaching and
learning
The use of ICT can stimulate reluctant readers and writers
Word processing is a valuable tool to enable children to redraft, revise and present
their work
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Computer activities can provide excellent opportunities for discussion and
reflection
Specific software (e.g. ‘Clicker’, ‘Word Shark’) can be useful tools for developing
specific literacy skills.
14. Differentiation
We offer every child access to the English curriculum at the appropriate level.
Differentiation in writing can occur by outcome (the quality of the piece produced), by
task or by support (either from an adult or through resources, such as sentence prompts
or writing frames). Children’s individual writing targets also provide a key source of
differentiation, allowing children to focus on their own key next steps as developing
writers.
We ensure that children who experience difficulties with any aspect of writing are
identified quickly and additional support provided. If necessary, they will be placed on
the SEND register and an IEP will be written containing specific targets. Support
strategies and materials are introduced according to individual needs across the school.
More able children will be identified and enabled to progress at a level appropriate to
their ability. Their success will be celebrated by, for example, entering writing
competitions or attending gifted & talented writing workshops.
15. Equal Opportunities
At Queen Edith, we celebrate diversity through recognising our children’s skills and
knowledge and by the study of material from a variety of cultures. Texts used will
represent all cultures in a positive light and will show both genders in a range of roles.
The interests of both boys and girls will be taken into account when selecting materials
to support the development of writing. Language games, explicit feedback and clear
target setting can all help boys in particular to make good progress in writing.
Many bilingual children bring to their writing a great depth of appreciation of language
and an ability to use it flexibly and creatively. This will be encouraged, supported and
celebrated.
We recognise that children for whom English is an additional language may have
specific and important needs that must be addressed, including access to bilingual
resources. The development of vocabulary, as well as sentence structure, is of
enormous importance, and visual support for developing understanding is essential. Our
language support staff may work 1-1 or in a very small group with EAL children on
particular aspect of writing development (e.g. tenses).
The needs of children on the SEND register will be planned for as necessary, according
to their IEP targets. They include:
Providing additional opportunities to develop fine motor skills and strength
Considering whether a child on the autism spectrum finds fiction writing
particularly stressful
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Addressing the difficulties experienced by children with Speech, Language
and Communication Needs (SLCN).
16. Parent Partnership
Many children come to school with an understanding of some of the purposes of writing
and with experience of drawing, colouring and mark-making as a precursor to legible
writing. These experiences are valued by the school, and parents are encouraged to
exploit their children’s interest by including them in activities such as writing shopping
lists and post cards. Guidance about correct letter formation is given to parents of
children in Reception.
Later, parents are encouraged to participate in their children’s writing development
through homework activities. These include learning spellings and writing words in
meaningful sentences/stories, but also some extended writing tasks. Children in the
Later Years also complete homework projects which require research and presentation,
and parental support is encouraged with these activities.
17. Conclusion
Writing is an essential life skill, both for children’s future progress in school and for their
ability to fulfil their ambitions and potential in adult life. We aim that children leaving
Queen Edith should have received a firm foundation in the essentials of writing. They
will have gone on to develop fluency and individual style whenever possible, together
with enjoyment and a sense of satisfaction in their achievements as writers.
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Appendix A
Writing at Queen Edith – Key Messages
In developing children as young writers, we hold to the following key principles and
practices. We seek to integrate these into our day-to-day teaching and learning of
writing to ensure a consistent and progressive approach through the school. We use the
structure and guidance provided by the Renewed Framework flexibly, ensuring we keep
these key aspects at the heart of things.
1) Talk: extensive opportunities for speaking & listening, drama and group work to
explore ideas, gain confidence with content, rehearse oral language structures
2) Reading: providing regular opportunities for children to read and be read aloud
to, making time to read/tell stories, share poetry, and engage with non-fiction
3) Stimulus: inspiring writing through role play areas, drama/writing in role,
multimedia, practical work, learning outside the classroom
4) Stamina: providing opportunities for sustained writing at least weekly, across the
curriculum
5) Planning: explicit teaching of planning, beginning with pictures, ensuring every
child has a reliable planning strategy, e.g. spider diagrams, encouraging flexibility
in later years
6) Structure: reading and writing a wide range of text types to develop familiarity,
using planning to support organisation, introducing paragraphs when basic
punctuation is secure later in KS2
7) VCOP: regularly practising the key dimensions of high quality sentence-level
work: vocabulary, connectives, openers, punctuation (by name in Y5-6); zero
tolerance policy on basic punctuation errors n KS2
8) Phonics/Spelling: daily short and sharp phonics teaching in KS1, developed in
KS2 through regular practice of phonic patterns and common spelling rules
9) Handwriting: developing motor skills, providing regular handwriting practice,
encouraging high standards of presentation
10) Assessment: employing peer & self-assessment strategies, including
highlighters, response partners, mini-plenaries; using individual writing targets to
focus children on their next steps as developing writers
May 2009, updated September 2010
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Appendix B
Queen Edith Spelling Progression
1) Early Spellers
Daily phonics work based on Letters & Sounds
Explore, practise & secure phonic knowledge in stages until secure with stage 5
Regularly practise & secure HFW/‘tricky’ words
2) Intermediate Spellers
Regular short, sharp spelling practice
Regularly revisit & consolidate long vowel phonemes (L&S stage 5)
Regularly practise sounding out unknown words & breaking down into syllables
Explore, practise & secure common spelling rules:
• Verbs endings –ed & -ing
• Consonant doubling
• Irregular past tenses
• Silent letters
• Plurals s, es, ies
• Tricky letter patterns w/wh-, c/k/ck, -dge, -tch
• Contractions
• Suffix –le
• Suffixes –er & -est
• Suffixes -ful, -ly, -less
• Homophones
• Suffix –tion
• Letter strings –ould, –ight, -ough, -augh
• Suffixes –able & -ible
Regularly practise & secure MFW (including to/too, of/off)
3) Advanced Spellers
Set personal targets to consolidate any common spelling rules they still find tricky
Explore, practise & secure more complex spelling rules:
• Unstressed syllables, vowels & consonants
• Suffixes –tion, -sion, -cian
• Letter strings with different pronunciations, e.g. –ight, -ear, -our, -ough, -oo
• Soft & hard c
• Negative prefixes
• Suffixes –ous, -ite,
Extend vocabulary through investigating prefixes/suffixes & exploring roots & meanings.
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