Writing
Intent
We want our pupils to have a positive attitude to all forms of communication, and to be able to independently express their own ideas and emotions. Our aim is for children to write in different styles and for various purposes and audiences, to develop a wide vocabulary, and to understand the grammar and terminology for their age group, as set out by the National Curriculum.
Our aim is to ensure that children are fully immersed in all of their writing opportunities, and therefore, all writing is taught through the medium of high quality books. When children can associate with a book, they have a strong base to link their writing, thus increasing creativity and creating a true writers voice. Our dream is to create the writers of tomorrow.
We are ambitious for all children’s writing, and pupil groups, including pupil premium, SEND and pupils working at greater depth. Our intent is to continue to improve standards, so that by the end of year 6 more pupils reach the expected and higher standard in their writing despite the low baselines upon their entry into school. We strive for our pupils to write with consistent basic standards, greater grammatical accuracy, and wish for all pupils to acquire a rich and ambitious vocabulary to use in their writing across the whole curriculum. We want all our pupils to express themselves creatively, and to communicate effectively as they transition to Secondary school.
Impact
Although at the start of our journey using the Power of Reading at Cotmanhay Junior School, we empower students to know the purpose and audience of their writing. By ensuring this, children know the ‘why’ behind their work and can write effectively using a variety of genres. As children progress through school, writing stamina improves alongside all other writing domains including handwriting fluency, basic writing standards, application of spelling, grammar and punctuation and presentation.
The Power of Reading empowers imaginative and creative writers. We regularly survey our pupils, and listen to their feedback on writing lessons. Early pupil voice has showcased that children enjoy that their writing relates to a class book and gives them a greater bank of ideas to apply. It has also evidenced that engagement and enjoyment with different pupil groups has increased.
Early lesson drop-ins and book looks showcase that children are starting to make better links between learning within each unit and are applying skills being learnt. Writers have more confidence to think for themselves to ‘have a go’. They are less reliant on guided support and use scaffolds with increased independence. Handwriting and other basic standards are steadily improving over time due to high standards expected by teachers.