Intent
At Court Farm Primary School, 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. We understand the importance of balancing transcription and composition skills to reduce cognitive overload and we believe that strong teaching of phonics, reading and handwriting are fundamental to producing confident writers. Each individual is guided and nurtured on their own personal journey to become a successful writer and we provide pupils with engaging and purposeful writing opportunities.
We intend that our pupils develop their skills in Language and English so they continue to improve in their ability to:
- Express themselves clearly in writing and understanding, using good spelling, punctuation and grammar.
- 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.
- Use the necessary tools to adapt their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
- Produce well-presented work using good, legible handwriting and using current standards of ICT.
Implementation
English is taught daily. We use the ‘I Am a Clever Writer’ (IAACW) approach to teach a clear and structured approach to writing. Each strand of writing is broken down into small steps with teachers using objectives from the National Curriculum as the focus of planning. Teaching sequences are carefully planned to ensure opportunities for consolidation and the development of a skill relating to the ‘Clever Writer Checklist’. The checklist remains visible and accessible within the learning environment and is added to as new skills are introduced.
(Please refer to the IAACW year group writing progressions)
Our teachers create their own WAGOLLs (What a Good One Looks Like) based on a stimulus text or WOW experience to model to the children how to include the identified features in their own writing. These are produced for both fiction and non-fiction sequences of learning.
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
The writing journey that children take as they move through Court Farm Primary School ensures they can successfully develop their composition (ideas) and transcription (spelling and handwriting). Balancing transcription and composition skills reduces cognitive overload and in turn helps our pupils become more fluent and proficient writers.
Rigorous teacher assessments and responsive teaching allows us to identify next steps for the children and the school. Live marking is essential and enables teachers to tackle misconceptions and share good practice. Monitoring is regularly carried out by the English subject leader and the senior leadership team. This monitoring and evaluation cycle is mainly done by book looks, learning walks, analysis of data and planning. The children at Court Farm Primary School are proud of the work they produce and they enjoy showing their work to visitors. They are confident in their learning and can articulate what makes them ‘A Clever Writer”. Assessment is tracked via Arbor where teachers update their judgements every term.
If you want to find out more about the Clever Writer approach, click on the link below:
https://www.iamacleverwriter.co.uk/